A tiny contingent of Duke University graduates opposed pro-Israel comedian Jerry Seinfeld speaking at their commencement in North Carolina Sunday, with about 30 of the 7,000 students leaving their seats and chanting \u201cfree Palestine\u201d amid a mix of boos and cheers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some waved the red, green, black and white Palestinian flag. Seinfeld, whose namesake sitcom was one of the most popular in U.S. television history, was there to receive an honorary doctorate from the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The stand-up comic turned actor, who stars in the new Netflix movie \u201cUnfrosted,\u201d has publicly supported Israel since it invaded Gaza to dismantle Hamas after the organization attacked the country and killed some\u00a01,200 people in southern Israel\u00a0on Oct. 7. The ensuing war has killed more than\u00a035,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, which doesn\u2019t distinguish between civilians and combatants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The small student protest Sunday at Duke\u2019s graduation in Durham, North Carolina, was emblematic of campus events across the U.S. Sunday after\u00a0weeks of student protests\u00a0resulted in nearly 2,900 arrests at 57 colleges and universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Students at campuses across the U.S. responded this spring by setting up encampments and calling for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it. Students and others on campuses whom law enforcement authorities have identified as outside agitators have taken part in the protests from Columbia University in New York City to UCLA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police escorted graduates\u2019 families past a few dozen pro-Palestinian protesters who tried to block access to Sunday evening\u2019s commencement for Southern California\u2019s Pomona College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After demonstrators set up an encampment last week on the campus\u2019 ceremony stage, the small liberal arts school moved the event 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Claremont to the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. Tickets were required to attend the event, which the school said would include additional security measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In April, police wearing riot gear arrested 19 protesters who had occupied the president\u2019s office at the college with about 1,700 undergraduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Demonstrator Anwar Mohmed, a 21-year-old Pomona senior, said the school has repeatedly ignored calls to consider divesting its endowment funds from corporations tied to Israel in the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been time and time again ignored by the institution,\u201d Mohmed said outside the Shrine on Sunday. \u201cSo today we have to say, it\u2019s not business as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the University of California, Berkeley, on Saturday, a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators waved flags and chanted during commencement and were escorted to the back of the stadium,\u00a0according to the San Francisco Chronicle. There were no major counterprotests, but some attendees voiced frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel like they\u2019re ruining it for those of us who paid for tickets and came to show our pride for our graduates,\u201d said Annie Ramos, whose daughter is a student. \u201cThere\u2019s a time and a place, and this is not it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This weekend\u2019s commencement events\u00a0remained largely peaceful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Emerson College in Boston, some students took off their graduation robes and left them on stage. Others emblazoned \u201cfree Palestine\u201d on their mortar boards. One woman, staring at a camera broadcasting a livestream to the public, unzipped her robe to show\u00a0a kaffiyeh, the black and white checkered scarf commonly worn by Palestinians, and flashed a watermelon painted on her hand. Both are symbols of solidarity with those living in the occupied territories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Others displayed messages for a camera situated on stage, but the livestream quickly shifted to a different view, preventing them from being seen for long. Chants during some of the speeches were difficult to decipher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protests at Columbia University, where student uprisings inspired others at campuses across the country, led the school to cancel its main graduation ceremony in favor of smaller gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The University of Southern California told its valedictorian, who publicly backed Palestinians, that\u00a0she could not deliver her keynote\u00a0speech at its graduation ceremony because of security concerns. It later\u00a0canceled its main graduation ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At DePaul University in Chicago, graduation is more than a month away. But as the academic year closes, school leaders said they had reached an \u201cimpasse\u201d with the school\u2019s pro-Palestinian protesters, leaving the future of their encampment on the Chicago campus unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The student-led DePaul Divestment Coalition, which is calling on the university to divest from economic interests tied to Israel, set up the encampment nearly two weeks ago. The group alleged university officials walked away from talks and tried to force students into signing an agreement, according to a student statement late Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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