Charlie Covit
WSJ, May 16, 2024
“Support for Mr. Tettey-Tamaklo belies the protesters’ denials of antisemitism.”
Harvard’s anti-Israel protesters created a martyr this past school year. “Reinstate Elom to his proctor position,” read a list of demands first published in November and posted across campus for the rest of the year. “Over 4,000 people have signed a petition to bring the people’s proctor back—listen to your students.” The signature count has since exceeded 10,000.
The “people’s proctor” is Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School. He was removed from his position as a proctor—a freshman-dorm resident adviser—after being accused by an Israeli student of assault at an Oct. 18 “die-in” on the grounds of Harvard Business School.
Video of the event, recorded by the Israeli student, shows Mr. Tettey-Tamaklo attempting to block his view with a kaffiyeh. A crowd surrounds the Israeli student and its members keep demanding “Exit!” and screaming “Shame!” The Israeli pleads “Don’t grab me” and “Stop touching me” as the mob forces him out of the public space it is occupying.
Last month Mr. Tettey-Tamalko was charged with two misdemeanors, assault and battery and violation of civil rights. His arraignment is scheduled for Monday. (His lawyers didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.)
“We are profoundly enraged by the unjust suspension of Elom Tettey-Tamaklo from his position as a first-year proctor,” the Change.org petition reads. “Elom was suspended for expressing his views on Palestine.”
A group called Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine issued a statement in December excusing Mr. Tettey-Tamalko’s conduct: “Tettey-Tamaklo and other organizers resorted to de-escalation tactics, in this case interpositioning, whereby marshals place their own bodies between conflicting parties to assure the safety of protesters. They tried to shield the protesters’ faces from view and to usher the counter-protester away from the peaceful demonstration.”
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