Members of the Quinobequin Student Front For Palestine briefly gathered to “shut down” Boston University’s alumni weekend event Saturday at BU Beach.
Around 12 p.m., the group circled BU Beach chanting, “Disclose, divest. We will not stop. We will not rest.” Demonstrators circled the area around four times before disbanding at the Duan Family Center for Computing and Data Sciences.
“BU is hosting an alumni fair to solicit donations,” the group wrote in an Instagram post announcing the demonstration. “At the same time, Palestine is undergoing genocide armed by the same companies BU invests in and researches for.”
QSFP called on alumni to “withhold donations to BU as long as they repress student voices and fund genocide,” in a flyer passed out to event attendants.
Prior to the demonstration, Boston Police Department cars lined Commonwealth Avenue from the George Sherman Union to Marsh Chapel. Among the police cars were more than six paddy wagons, police vans designed for mass arrests.
A BPD officer at the scene said BU administration requested BPD’s presence.
Duane Jackson, a 1976 BU alum, said he was surprised to see the large police presence.
“I’ve been coming up here for alumni weekends for the last 12 years, and I’ve never seen this before,” Jackson said.
Lucio T. Maffei wrote an email to BU administration, which he also sent to The Daily Free Press, claiming he was “unlawfully harassed” by BU Police Department officers for taking photos of their cars before the protest began.
Maffei, a second-year law student, wrote he was approached by six armed police officers in the BU School of Law building and asked to provide his ID, despite having “no intent of participating” in the demonstration.
“I am shaken and afraid,” Maffei wrote. “This type of behavior is an unacceptable betrayal of everything our community is supposed to stand for.”
Maffei wrote he believes he was harassed because he was wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress that has come to symbolize Palestinian resistance and solidarity.
“They profiled me and made assumptions about who I was and what I was doing based on exercising my constitutional rights and daring to wear a piece of fabric in solidarity with Palestinians,” Maffei wrote.
On Friday, Maffei, a DFP opinion columnist, wrote an opinion piece about police presence outside the BU School of Law building.
Jackson said despite the fact that he believes BU’s investment in Israel is a “far gone conclusion,” he believes free speech on college campuses is “very important.”
“There should be a discussion, not only on college campuses but throughout the country, about how the government spends your money,” Jackson said.
Donna Sawyer, a 1978 BU alum, said she has “compassion” for Palestinians in Gaza and respects the student demonstrators’ right to protest
“I think people should have the right to, and should stand up for what is right,” Sawyer said.
Lucio Maffei is a current Daily Free Press opinion columnist. He was not involved in the reporting, writing or editing of this article.