the-garbanzo-annex-jr · 11 months ago
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by Dion J. Pierre Dozens of anti-Israel student groups at Harvard University, along with several allied campus groups across the US, have issued a set of demands to Harvard President Claudine Gay and given her until Monday to respond, adding further fuel to what’s become an explosive situation at one of the world’s most elite universities over the Israel-Hamas war. Earlier this week, students protested on campus and issued the list of demands, which included the reinstatement of a student proctor who three weeks ago participated in mobbing a Jewish student and screaming “Shame!” into his ears.  According to The Harvard Crimson, the campus newspaper, the university had suspended indefinitely Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, a second year student at the Harvard Divinity School, from his role as a proctor over his involvement in the incident, video of which went viral earlier this month. Tettey-Tamaklo reportedly has been ordered to vacate free housing he received as compensation for holding the position, which gives graduates the opportunity to mentor freshmen. This week, the students also demanded that Gay commit to pursue no disciplinary or punitive actions against “pro-Palestinian students and workers engaging in non-violent protest.” The letter came as, according to The Harvard Crimson, eight undergraduates students had been summoned to hearings as part of disciplinary proceedings against students who last week occupied University Hall on campus for 24-hours. The third demand in the letter to Gay was for Harvard to “disclose [its] investments in the internationally recognized illegal settlements in Palestine and divest from those holdings” — an apparent nod to the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. The BDS campaign seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward the Jewish state’s eventual elimination. “Harvard University continues to attempt to silence the voices of those who refuse to watch idly by as crimes against humanity are committed against the Palestinian people,” said the letter containing the demands. “The university continually wants to ‘affirm their commitment to protecting all members of our community from harassment and marginalization.’ However, they are currently attempting to fire a Black first year proctor, Elom, for standing on the side of justice.” The letter additionally chastised Gay for earlier this month condemning the popular anti-Israel chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — a slogan that has been widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Now we will find out who is in charge at Harvard, the administration or the spoiled, little, terror-supporting, Jew-hating motherf***ers,
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eretzyisrael · 8 months ago
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by Collin Anderson
Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, the Harvard University graduate student who was filmed accosting an Israeli classmate at a campus protest, penned an essay last year glorifying a Palestinian terrorist who was imprisoned for her role in attempting to bomb a movie theater in Jerusalem in 1967.
"When I started learning about Palestine, I was always struck by the women who featured prominently in the movement's work," Tettey-Tamaklo wrote in a March 2023 article published in the Institute for Palestine Studies. "However, one woman's story struck me and has stayed with me ever since: Fatima Bernawi."
Regarded as the first female Palestinian terrorist, Bernawi attempted to bomb the Zion Cinema in downtown Jerusalem in 1967 by leaving an explosive in her handbag. An American tourist spotted the bag and alerted an usher, foiling the plot. Bernawi was nonetheless sentenced to life in prison and said subsequently that her attempted terrorist attack was not a "failure" given that it "generated fear throughout the world."
"Every woman who carries a bag needs to be checked before she enters the supermarket, any place, cinemas and pharmacies," Bernawi said in a 2015 interview. "All my life I had dreamed about it," she said.
Tettey-Tamaklo's essay refers to the attack approvingly. He writes that Bernawi "nearly carried out an attack on an Israeli establishment frequented by Occupation Forces (IOF)" and subsequently made "history as the first woman to be arrested by the IOF."
He concludes that "a true appreciation and celebration of underrepresented histories of Palestinian women like Bernawi—among others—cannot be relegated to the dusty corridors of history."
At the time the essay was published, Tettey-Tamaklo, a second-year student at the Harvard Divinity School, served as a proctor, a supervisory role in which graduate students live among freshmen and support their "adjustment to Harvard."
Tettey-Tamaklo was removed from that role, however, after he was captured on video accosting a Jewish student at an October "die-in" protest held on Harvard's campus to assail Israel's retaliatory attacks on Hamas.
Tettey-Tamaklo and other protesters pushed, shoved, and surrounded the Jewish student, using keffiyehs to block their own faces and the Jewish student's view, according to footage first reported by the Washington Free Beacon. The protesters repeatedly shouted "SHAME!" as the Jewish student said "don't grab me" and "don't touch my neck."
Prominent Harvard Business School alumni cited the ordeal as proof that the Ivy League institution failed to protect its Jewish attendees. Weeks after the letter's publication, in November, Harvard "indefinitely relieved" Tettey-Tamaklo of his proctor duties.
Tettey-Tamaklo's allies on Harvard's campus responded by circulating a petition that demanded Harvard reinstate the Divinity School student. The Harvard Law Record published a December article arguing that Tettey-Tamaklo was a "peaceful protester" attempting to "de-escalate" a "minor confrontation" between the Jewish student and protest attendees.
It's unclear if Harvard was aware of Tettey-Tamaklo's essay when it tapped the divinity school student to serve as a freshman proctor. The school did not respond to a request for comment.
Notwithstanding Harvard's decision to strip Tettey-Tamaklo of his proctor rule, he remains in good standing with the school, according to a January lawsuit that accuses Harvard of failing to combat "outrageous antisemitic conduct."
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fairuzfan · 9 months ago
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Please consider spending time to learn more about Afro-Palestinian experiences and living under occupation while Black and Palestinian, along with Afro-Palestinian resistance efforts throughout the years. Here are some valuable articles and resources:
Articles:
In the heart of the Old City, generations of Afro-Palestinians persevere in the face of occupation by Mousa Qous
Putting the pieces together: Fragments of oral history in exile by Samah Fadil
‘Afro-Palestinians’ forge a unique identity in Israel by Isma'il Kushkush
The Africans of Jerusalem by Mousa Qous
The History Of Afro-Palestinians, Past And Present by Fayida Jailler
African-Palestinian community’s deep roots in liberation struggle by Electronic Intifada
Remembering Fatima Bernawi: Historic Palestinian fighter and liberated prisoner (1939-2022) on Samidoun
Fatima Barnawi, founder of Palestinian Women's Police and veteran prisoner, dies at 83 by Middle East Eye
On Fatima Bernawi, Women's Struggle, and Black-Palestinian Solidarity by Elom Tettey-Tamaklo
Afro Palestine: the African Diaspora in Palestine (not an article but a quick video summary of Afro-Palestinian history)
Note: highly recommend checking out Mousa Qous, the founder of the African Community Society, for his writings above all!
African Community Society of Jerusalem:
Their website— organization centered around the Afro-Palestinian community in Jerusalem.
General info about the group
ACS's instagram to learn more about Afro-Palestinian history.
Here is a write-up about the African Community Society, their impact within Palestinian society, and Afro-Palestinian history in Jerusalem specifically. Highly recommend taking the time to read this if you can.
Please take the time to watch this Documentary by Stephen Graham about former Israeli prisoner Ali Jiddah where he takes the viewer on a tour throughout Jerusalem and describes the unique struggles the Afro-Palestinian community face. He is quite a friendly guy and very funny:
youtube
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mightyflamethrower · 1 year ago
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Harvard Jew-Haters Finding Out the New Rulez Suck
Harvard University has pulled down the biography of a graduate student and freshman proctor who was captured on video accosting an Israeli student last week at a campus protest. The move came as the school announced the formation of a task force to assist student protesters whose names were publicized after they blamed Israel for Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist rampage. The Dean of Students Office no longer includes a biography for Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, a divinity school student who lives with university undergraduates in a supervisory role. Tettey-Tamaklo and others were captured on video pushing and shoving an Israeli student during a pro-Palestinian protest, video of the incident shows. The Israeli student was shoved as keffiyeh-clad attendees surrounded him, shouting, “SHAME!”
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sbahour · 2 years ago
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My faith in youth was renewed today by a visit from Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, a native of Ghana and a past Teaching Assistant at the 2019 “I Know I Can” (IKIC) Summer Academies at the Ramallah Friends School, where I first met him.
After IKIC, he returned to Haverford College, graduated with a political science degree, and is now back in the region, working in Amman as an Ethics Intern at UNRWA HQ, about to head to Cambridge to start a Masters in Religion, Ethics, and Politics at the Harvard Divinity School. All the while, he is volunteering with Sabeel Elquds, engaged as a Research & Programs Intern with the African Studies Association of Africa, was a Co-Convener for Black Christians for Palestine, and attended a Conflict Management Training Program at the United States Institute for Peace.
He had a week off and decided to cross over to Palestine to reconnect and do some Sabeel work. He visited today to ask some very pointed questions about my career path and thoughts on what the solidarity community can do to engage in our struggle. His questions were clearly well thought out beforehand. He is already planning his next trip back to Palestine.
This is the version of youth I can be inspired by. BIG lesson here for our local graduates and those Palestinian diaspora graduates. Graduating and immediately seeking a public sector job is a death sentence. You can do better, you must do better. When you graduate abroad, you can come and continue your education here in Palestine, intern in Palestine, or volunteer in Palestine, the opportunities are endless. We need you all, every one of you, to engage at ground zero.
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the-garbanzo-annex-jr · 5 months ago
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by Jessica Costescu
A Harvard University law student who was charged with two misdemeanors after accosting an Israeli classmate last October has now landed a job in Washington, D.C.'s public defender's office.
The student, identified in a Washington Free Beacon report as Harvard Law Review editor Ibrahim Bharmal, has landed an immigration law clerkship with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, according to a LinkedIn post. Bharmal and divinity school graduate student Elom Tettey-Tamaklo were each charged with two misdemeanors on May 19 stemming from their conduct at an Oct. 18 "die-in" protest held outside Harvard Business School. Bharmal and Tettey-Tamaklo were captured on camera accosting a first-year Israeli business school student, surrounding the student and making it difficult for him to walk freely, as keffiyeh-clad onlookers shouted, "SHAME!"
Bharmal was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery and with violations of the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act, which prohibits attempts to "intimidate or interfere with … any other person in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him [or her] by the constitution." Bharmal is expected back in court in September for his arraignment and faces up to 100 days in jail for each count, court filings reviewed by the Free Beacon show.
There is no indication that Harvard has taken any disciplinary action against Bharmal. When asked if his pending charges and a possible conviction would impact his graduation—scheduled for next year—Harvard told the Free Beacon that it does "not comment on individual considerations related to discipline or student status."
Since the incident, Bharmal has remained in good standing with the school. In fact, Bharmal avoided discipline altogether, according to a January legal complaint. He is pursuing a joint degree program at the Ivy League university, namely a law degree and a master's in public policy, and still lists being an editor for the Harvard Law Review on his LinkedIn. Tettey-Tamaklo—the other student involved—was removed from his role as a freshman proctor in November, but otherwise, the school did "nothing to sanction" him, the complaint said.
Bharmal did not respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the D.C. public defender's office shared a post about Bharmal on LinkedIn, detailing his experience as a law clerk and thanking him for his "commitment to our clients." Bharmal says in the post that, after graduating Harvard, he would like to support "immigrants, asylum-seekers, and other newly arriving neighbors." The post also revealed a "fun fact" about Bharmal: "He is currently training to be a bollywood spin instructor...class sign-ups incoming."
The office did not respond to a request for comment on whether it was aware of Bharmal's ongoing legal proceedings.
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