Anti-Israel protesters boycott Jerry Seinfeld's commencement speech at Duke University

A number of universities across the country held graduation events this weekend. These events were no stranger to the climate of tension on college campuses since anti-Israel protests took over the classrooms. Several of the events held this weekend were disrupted as a result.

At Duke University, North Carolina, actor and comedian Jerry Seinfeld spoke as a special guest at the graduation ceremony. There, about thirty students attending the ceremony decided to boo the speech of the Jewish comedian, before leaving the room. Seinfeld also accepted a doctorate honoris causa from the university where his son studies and where his eldest daughter graduated.

In several videos showing what happened, a large group is seen leaving their seats at the graduation ceremony while many others cheer for the Jewish comedian, known for writing and acting in the sitcom that bears his name. Many other students boo and some shout "Free Palestine."

It is usually difficult to put political labels on the actor, who is often ambiguous. While he has supported Israel, he has done so by favoring the most secular and progressive positions of the Hebrew country. Jerry Seinfeld spent part of his youth in Kibbutz Sa'ar, in northern Israel, founded in the 1950s by a group of Jewish socialists.

However, protesters carried out this anti-Semitic act against the comedian, whom they accuse of being a shill for the State of Israel. Seinfeld and his wife have traveled several times to Israel since the October 7 attacks. During these visits, they have met with the families of hostages held by Hamas and strongly condemned the terrorist attack.

Violent incidents in California

During this same graduation weekend, serious incidents were recorded at Pomona College, California, when anti-Israel protesters blocked the graduation events and ended up clashing with the Police.

There, the protesters gathered at the place where the graduation ceremony was scheduled to take place. They refused to leave the site and the university had to rearrange the event. The Los Angeles Police Department deployed several units, which dealt with the protesters and went so far as to make arrests.

A similar situation was experienced at the Berkeley campus of the University of California. Although the university confirmed to Fox News that there were no violent acts that required police intervention and arrests, several students did disrupt the graduation ceremony with protest slogans.

At Virginia Commonwealth University, yet another celebration was disrupted by anti-Israel protesters. During the Virginia governor's address, a large number of attendees at the event stood up to leave the room and booed the Republican.

Promises at John Hopkins University

In Baltimore, John Hopkins University succeeded in evicting anti-Israel protesters from its Homewood campus. It did so through an agreement and promises that the school's management would review some of the demands presented by the students.

Thus, after 13 days of occupying the campus, the protesters agreed to abandon their positions and dismantle the camp. Under the terms of the agreement, the students agreed to no longer set up a protest camp on the John Hopkins University campus.

"There are no more tents here. We've packed up camp," said one ofthe protest organizers in statements reported by the Baltimore Sun during an assembly of student collectives. "This agreement we have reached is by no means considered a victory, but it was a first step."