Yale Graduates Stage Pro-Palestine Walkout

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Facts

• At least 150 graduates walked out in protest during Yale University's commencement ceremony Monday, leaving the courtyard of the school's Old Campus as part of their efforts to show support for Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip during Israel's war with Hamas.¹
• The walkout started when Yale president Peter Salovey began announcing the candidates for degrees in front of thousands of graduates.¹
• Some of the students wore keffiyehs (Palestinian scarves), carried small Palestinian flags, or held banners that read, 'No Grad in Gaza.' Some held up red-gloved hands, which is meant to symbolize blood on Yale's hands for the over 40K Palestinian deaths in Gaza.²
• The students who walked out, who are seeking to get Yale to divest from Israel, met up with protesters congregating just outside of Old Campus.³
• Yale is currently among dozens of US campuses that have seen vocal protests of the war in Gaza since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Some schools have even canceled their graduation ceremonies in response to the threat of protest.¹

Sources: ¹Reuters.com, ²NHRegister.com and ³NBC Connecticut.

Narratives

• Progressive narrative, as provided by Democracy Now. It's great to see these students becoming politically active and having their voices heard. The Yale protesters can take heart that at other campuses across the US, administrators have begun to negotiate with students and the protests are proving successful.
• Conservative narrative, as provided by Breitbart. Attendees of elite institutions like Yale may want to get out of their left-leaning academic bubble and really look at what their protests are saying. Some of these protesters have come out in support of Hamas, a terrorist organization with a history of mistreating its own people.

Predictions