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MIT partially suspends students who occupied building for pro-Palestinian ‘die-in’
(JTA) – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will suspend a handful of students from “non-academic” activities after they participated in a recent pro-Palestinian “die-in.”
The decision was announced in a Nov. 9 letter from MIT President Sally Kornbluth, who did not specify how many students will be suspended. The protest, which occurred that day, was put on by a campus group known as the Coalition Against Apartheid. The action was taken because “a line had been crossed” in the protesters’ occupation of a university building, Kornbluth wrote.
“Today’s protest – which became disruptive, loud and sustained through the morning hours – was organized and conducted in defiance” of guidelines the university had issued to the students ahead of time, wote Kornbluth, who was appointed president of MIT last year, on Thursday.
The episode is the latest example of a university taking concrete action against anti-Israel activism on its campus. It comes after Columbia University and Brandeis University announced suspensions of pro-Palestinian student groups surrounding their opposition to Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Columbia suspended the groups, including Jewish anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, for violating school policy. Brandeis said it suspended Students for Justice in Palestine because the group “‘openly supports Hamas,” which the United State designates as a terror group.
The war has enflamed tensions on campuses nationwide and led to increased fears of antisemitism. The Florida state university system has also been ordered to ban all SJP chapters at its schools, and major donors and politicians have applied additional pressure to schools to take more determined action against anti-Israel activity.
The Coalition Against Apartheid had held the “die-in” in MIT’s main entrance to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza; pro-Israel counterprotesters also showed up. Administrators had warned the students that they could not use the entrance or disrupt research as part of their protest. Many students left after the school said they could be “subject to suspension,” but some did not, Kornbluth wrote.
The school is prohibiting the students from attending “non-academic campus activities” while keeping them enrolled at the school. Administrators stopped short of suspending students outright because of “serious concerns about collateral consequences for the students, such as visa issues,” Kornbluth wrote.
The president added that MIT’s investigation into the protest, including individual actions taken by both protesters and counter-protesters, would continue. Kornbluth said that members of a counterprotest may also have violated MIT policies and did not specify the viewpoints of the suspended students. Photos of the protest taken by the student newspaper, The Tech, show students setting up displays in the building with both Israeli and Palestinian flags.
MIT Hillel’s director did not immediately respond to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency request for comment.
In an open letter shared on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, by Israeli MIT professor Retsef Levi, a group calling itself the MIT Israel Alliance criticized administration for not outright suspending the offending students. The group claimed that Jewish and Israeli students had been physically prevented from attending classes and that members of the pro-Palestinian group had harassed Jewish MIT staff in their offices.
“They have shown that actions against Jews at MIT do not have consequences,” the letter states.
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The post MIT partially suspends students who occupied building for pro-Palestinian ‘die-in’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Netanyahu Criticizes Nation-Wide Strike That ‘Strengthens Hamas’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday harshly criticized nationwide demonstrations calling for the release of hostages and an end to the Gaza war.
Speaking at a government meeting, Netanyahu argued that such protests only strengthen Hamas and risk repeating the atrocities of October 7.
“Those who call today for an end to Hamas’s war not only harden the terrorist group’s position and delay the release of our hostages, but also guarantee that the horrors of October 7 will be repeated and that we will have to fight an endless war,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister defended Israel’s ongoing military operations, citing strikes carried out in recent days: “In the last 24 hours, the navy attacked power stations in Yemen, IDF soldiers struck Zeitoun and eliminated dozens of terrorists in Gaza, and the air force targeted Hezbollah commanders and launch sites in Lebanon.”
He added that Israel’s response in Lebanon was consistent with the ceasefire agreement: “According to this agreement, we will meet with fire any violation and any attempt to arm Hezbollah.”
Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel’s conditions for ending the conflict, stressing the need for continued security control in Gaza and the group’s long-term demilitarization. He rejected Hamas’s demand for a full Israeli withdrawal: “They want us to leave Gaza entirely — from the north, the south, the Philadelphi corridor, and the security perimeter. That would only allow them to reorganize, rearm, and attack us again.”
The war has now entered its 681st day, with 49 hostages still held by Hamas.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Israelis joined a general strike organized by the Hostage Families Forum, calling for the return of all captives in a single deal and for an end to the war. Demonstrations spread across the country, at major intersections, government ministers’ homes, and familiar protest hubs such as Kaplan Junction and the Ayalon highways.
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Family Releases Footage of Matan Zangauker in Captivity
A screenshot of a video released by the family of hostage Matan Zangauker.
i24 News – The family of Matan Zangauker, the Israeli hostage held by Hamas since October 7, shared new footage of him from captivity on Sunday evening.
The video, obtained by the IDF, was recorded several months ago.
In the recording, 32-year-old Matan looks directly into the camera, addressing his loved ones: “Tato, Shani, Ilana, I miss you. God willing, we’ll see each other soon. All my friends and acquaintances, go out and make noise like only you know how.”
Matan was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his partner Ilana Gritsievsky, who was released in a hostage deal last year. Since then, Matan has remained in Hamas custody while his family continues to fight for his return.
On the national protest day calling for the release of hostages, Ilana staged a poignant display at Hostages Square. Dressed in a wedding gown beneath a chuppah, she symbolically “married” Matan in his absence. “Matan, my curly-haired one, if you hadn’t been abducted, we could already be married. In a single day, our world was destroyed, and you’re not here to hold me. I’m fighting for you until you come back,” she said.
Matan’s mother, Einav, has emerged as a leading voice in the campaign for the hostages’ release and has sharply criticized Israel’s political leadership, accusing them of undermining potential hostage deals.
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Hamas Rejects Israel’s Gaza Relocation Plan
Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp as the Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, in Gaza City August 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said on Sunday that Israel’s plan to relocate residents from Gaza City constitutes a “new wave of genocide and displacement” for hundreds of thousands of residents in the area.
The group said the planned deployment of tents and other shelter equipment by Israel into southern Gaza was a “blatant deception.”
The Israeli military has said it is preparing to provide tents and other equipment starting from Sunday ahead of its plan to relocate residents from combat zones to the south of the enclave “to ensure their safety.”
Hamas said in a statement that the deployment of tents under the guise of humanitarian purposes is a blatant deception intended to “cover up a brutal crime that the occupation forces prepare to execute.”
Israel said earlier this month that it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of northern Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban center. The plan has raised international alarm over the fate of the demolished strip, which is home to about 2.2 million people.