It’s not uncommon for a university like UC Berkeley with a rich history of student activism to see protests and demonstrations. However, the recent protest during Saturday’s commencement ceremony at California Memorial Stadium was particularly disruptive for the thousands of parents and family members attending. As the California Memorial Stadium filled with spectators, one section prominently displayed Palestinian flags and signs expressing opposition to Zionism and Israel. Once the ceremony started, hundreds of protesters began chanting in unison, disrupting the speakers with chants like: “Hey, hey, ho, ho, the occupation has got to go!” and “Free, Free Palestine.”
Sydney Roberts, the student body president, struggled to speak as the crowd kept loudly chanting.
At this point, Sunny Lee, the dean of students, interrupted her speech and spoke to the crowd: “Many see your pain. We hear you.” He then asked them to quiet down and allow Roberts to continue. “It wouldn’t be Berkeley without a protest,” she commented.
Chancellor Carol Christ opened the ceremony by acknowledging the protests that took over the campus. “I’m saddened by how this conflict has divided students, faculty and staff,” Christ said. “While most of our campus community has engaged peacefully, political positions have bled over too easily and quickly to antisemitism and anti-Palestinian harassment.” Though she used a microphone to speak, it was difficult for people sitting in the benches next to the protesters to hear what was said.
Melinda Vasquez, whose son was graduating, shared her heartbreak: “Unfortunately for us, we were sitting right next to them and they kept screaming in our ears. We were waiting for this moment and they simply ruined it for us. It was pretty scary and we felt intimidated. Nobody dared say anything to them.”
Vasquez said she had family arriving from as far as Texas for the ceremony and they were very disappointed that the demonstrators weren’t asked to leave. “I expected them to be escorted out at any moment, but they were allowed to disrupt the entire event, from beginning till end.”
Eti Mizrahi, whose daughter Ariel was graduating, said that her daughter missed having her high school graduation because of COVID, like many of the students who were graduating this year. “Now, they missed out on having on this experience too,” she said in an interview with the Journal. “I was sitting next to parents whose children were the first ones in the family to graduate university and they were in tears.”
“I noticed that there were two Palestinian flags held by members of the faculty on stage. I was shocked they allowed this. I believe the administration and faculty are antisemitic. Why did they allow this?”
Mizrahi, Los Angeles resident, arrived with her husband and younger daughter. She had the Israeli flag wrapped around her shoulders and had two small Israeli flags on her head. As the crowd around her kept waiving the Palestinian flag, she and her family were holding the blue and white flag.
“I got up and started singing ‘The Hatikvah.’ Some people, not Jews came and kissed the flag as showing support. When we got out to leave, I noticed one woman in a wheelchair, she was holding the Israeli flags. The pro-Palestinians snapped the flag from her and started stepping on it. I started screaming at them: Shame on you! They didn’t dare touch me.”
As the 23,000 attendees exited the stadium, hundreds of protesters awaited, waving Palestinian flags, some wrapped with a black and white Palestinian scarf and chanting anti-Israel slogans. Many wore masks, some appeared to be graduating students, wearing black robes and caps and a blue and golden stole.
Lee, a Jewish student who asked to be identified by her first name only, spoke to The Journal about her experience sitting with the 7000 undergraduates.
“It was pretty hot to sit there and wait for the ceremony to end. It took an additional 20 minutes because of the protesters. Many students around me seemed unfazed or even supportive of the protests. As a Jewish student, it made me very uncomfortable. I just wanted the whole thing to be over with.”
Many attendees reacted negatively to the protests, expressing disappointment in the university’s lack of action to stop the disruptions during the ceremony.
Many attendees reacted negatively to the protests, expressing disappointment in the university’s lack of action to stop the disruptions during the ceremony.
“It seemed like the administration care more about the pro-Palestinian than the students and parents,” Albert Ruiz said. “I understand there is free speech, but what happened here has nothing to do with it. They made it a mission to ruin it for thousands of people and succeeded.”
Later that day, adjacent to the “pro-Palestinia”n encampment, protesters organized children’s activities. In one area, children participated in a musical circle, learning chants like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “I’m nervous, I’m scared but I’ll be brave.” Just across from there, under a large sign reading “Stop the Gaza Genocide,” parents and children engaged in art activities.
A week prior, at the same spot where children were now decorating posters against Zionism and Israel, a man stood quietly holding an Israeli flag. Across from him, an anti-Zionist forcibly took the flag and began assaulting him. No arrests were made.
