The College Fix

Organizers say Passover event is part of ‘call for the total liberation of all people, from every river to every sea’

Pro-Palestinian students went through with an “anti-Zionist Passover seder for liberation” on Saturday at Harvard University despite having their room reservation and event funding revoked, according to the student newspaper.

Matthew Burke, an administrator for the Adams House, an undergraduate residence, said he canceled the university’s support and the group’s reservation due to a policy regarding unrecognized student groups, The Harvard Crimson reports.

Burke said the event was connected to Harvard Jews 4 Palestine, which is not an official student group, and policy prohibits unrecognized student groups from holding activities on campus or receiving university support.

However, event organizer Tamar Sella, a senior, confirmed the seder still happened, according to The Crimson:

Despite the House threats, more than 20 Harvard affiliates attended the seder Saturday evening, which was held in a closed-door common room to the side of the dining hall.

The seder organizers did not hold the event under the name of any student group, but J4P publicized the seder in a post on Instagram and solicited RSVPs through a google form linked to their profile. Sella, an organizer for Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine — another unrecognized student group — has participated in several J4P demonstrations. …

Sella disputed J4P’s involvement in an interview. She said she had previously been told by the Dean of Students Office that unrecognized student groups could publicize events without being considered sponsors as long as they did not include their logos on promotional materials.

Sella did say Harvard J4P group paid for catering for the event, according to the report.

In a post on Instagram advertising the seder, the group wrote, “We engage in ritual practice and look to our historical struggle in our present fight for liberation, amidst Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and occupation of Palestine.”

“We observe this Passover, a celebration of our own liberation from slavery in Egypt, by remembering those who remain subjugated — and by continuing to call for the total liberation of all people, from every river to every sea,” the post stated.

Sella told The Crimson that administrators are trying to “stifl[e] any manifestation of Jewishness that opposes the escalating genocide in Gaza.”

Meanwhile, the Ivy League school is facing a $2.2 billion funding pause after refusing to comply with the Trump administration’s demands to address antisemitism on campus, The College Fix reported.

MORE: Penn students, faculty hold ‘interfaith vigil’ for ‘martyrs of Palestinian genocide’

IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Harvard Jews 4 Palestine advertises an ‘anti-Zionist Passover seder for liberation’ on its Instagram page. An individual holds a pro-Palestinian flag during a protest at Harvard. Harvard Jews 4 Palestine/Instagram

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