Inside the encampment: MIT student leader reveals goal of protests, calls out 'unacceptable' media coverage

The leader of an encampment on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus is urging the school to divest from Israel and criticized media outlets for suggesting anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism. 

Zeno, a graduate student at MIT, spoke with Fox News Digital inside the encampment that has been operating on the lawn at Kresge Auditorium since April 21. The "MIT Scientists Against Genocide Encampment" (MIT SAGE) has a clear message to the Cambridge university: End all research contracts sponsored by the Ministry of Defense of Israel.

"Right now, we know that Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza and we don't want the intellectual prowess of our students to go towards killer drone research," Zeno said while standing in front of a large "Liberated Zone" sign. 

The encampment claims that MIT has received over $11 million in research funding from the Ministry of Defense of Israel since 2015, which has "material benefit" to what anti-Israel voices derisively call the the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).

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One of the projects MIT allegedly funded is "autonomous robotic swarms." The group is concerned this initiative could enhance drone abilities to track moving targets, whether that be Gazan citizens or American protesters. The topic is of significant concern to Zeno, who is a disabled Air Force Veteran and currently serves as a "Graduates for Palestine" organizer. 

When asked to comment on the encampment's claims, MIT told Fox News Digital that it strongly supports the principals of academic freedom, which enables faculty to engage with a wide array of partners in the pursuit of knowledge.

They also referenced a statement from MIT President Sally Kornbluth, who said, "I am not going to compromise the academic freedom of our faculty, in any field of study. Our faculty represent a wide range of viewpoints that are appropriately expressed in a university dedicated to broadening our students' minds. And faculty routinely work with colleagues around the world, including in Israel – and all sponsored research on our campus is openly shared, publishable, and freely available to investigators everywhere."

Zeno said that over 70% of the graduate student union has called for a cease-fire and a full divestment from the "IOF."

Before the encampment was set up, students held teach-ins, protests, and educational events to raise awareness. The rows of tents, Zeno said, were erected to stand in solidarity with Columbia and to send a signal to the MIT administrators. 

"To not act is deeply immoral and I think our administration that's complicit in this genocide is clearly not showing a proper moral compass and it's up to us to guide them. If they don't have a moral compass, we'll provide it for them," Zeno said. 

He claimed the encampment has received significant support from faculty and fellow students. Some professors have even come and set up their own tents. 

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A group of anonymous MIT faculty members recently asked Kornbluth and other administrators to allow the encampment to stay on campus. 

"We are building a beautiful community around this movement, and it is a deeply intersectional community," Zeno said.

The sentiment is not shared by senior leadership at MIT. On Saturday, Kornbluth said, referencing the encampment, that "this particular form of expression needs to end soon." She also claimed the protesters were in violation of school policies. 

She acknowledged that the protests have been peaceful but some students perceived certain chants as being a call for the elimination of Israel. 

Her comments came after hundreds of protesters were arrested at Emerson College and Northeastern University, two other schools located in Massachusetts. 

The high-profile encampment at Columbia also led to student suspensions and arrests. 

In comparison, the MIT encampment was relatively quiet, with students ordering pizza and kicking around soccer balls. Some students painted and hung up signs accusing MIT of complicity in war crimes. 

Zeno rebuked claims of antisemitism among his organization and said one of the biggest segments of their coalition is the "Jews for Cease-fire" group. 

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Zeno said he and other pro-Palestinian students had recently participated in a Passover Seder dinner with other Jews on campus. 

"I have learned more about Jewish culture, and I've developed a much deeper appreciation for Jewish culture since I've been organizing in Palestine solidarity," Zeno added. 

The MIT graduate student stressed that protesters at MIT have a difference of opinion, not with Jewish students—but with Zionist students, pointing to a sign that said, "anti-Zionism does not equal antisemitism."

According to the Pew Research Center, 8 in 10 U.S. Jews say caring about Israel is "an essential or important part of what being Jewish means to them."

The Anti-Defamation League has said anti-Zionism is antisemitic, "in intent or effect, as it invokes anti-Jewish tropes, is used to disenfranchise, demonize, disparage, or punish all Jews and/or those who feel a connection to Israel, equates Zionism with Nazism and other genocidal regimes, and renders Jews less worthy of sovereignty and nationhood than other peoples and states."

"We have a right to criticize the state of Israel, who the US taxpayer pays $4 billion a year to. I'm a veteran and I can't even get health care, while Israel has got full health care paid for with our tax dollars. I'm allowed to have a problem with that," Zeno said. 

"We are allowed to criticize another nation. That is not antisemitic," he continued. "Like I said, some of my best friends here are Jewish. It has nothing to do with antisemitism and the media needs to stop being disingenuous and trying to conflate the two. All you're doing right there is you're pushing Israeli propaganda, and that is unacceptable and is unethical for media outlets to continue to do."