The first time I went to visit Harvard, George W. Bush was dropping bombs over Iraq. I vaguely remember the constant refrain of OutKast’s “Bombs over Baghdad” playing in my head.
Walking through campus, my friend Arie (who attended Harvard) and I couldn’t help but see the massive protest gathered at Harvard Yard that weekend. We stopped to listen.
Most of the speakers were condemnatory of the war. Expected. Then, the “Free Palestine” speaker got up and started raving about Israel being an apartheid state.
I was very confused. Why was everyone listening to this garbage? And what did it have to do with George W. Bush dropping bombs in Iraq?
I remember a few of us trying to start a chant: “Leave Israel out of this.” To no avail. The speaker finished her full remarks (if you could call them remarks) and eventually got off the platform.
I can’t remember if the speaker was well received. Wearing my kippah, I certainly wouldn’t have felt comfortable sticking around to ask. But in light of what is happening today, I do wonder if anyone else thought it was odd that someone had hijacked the overall message of the gathering.
I can’t say whether or not that was the beginning. I doubt it.
But twenty-five years later, it’s clear to me that you reap what you sow.
