Swarthmore College suffered hundreds of acts of vandalism across its campus on Friday, according to the administration and the local Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, as anti-Israel activists continued a campaign against the institution’s leadership.
Within a 30-minute window, around six activists allegedly defaced the campus with “hundreds of acts of vandalism,” according to Swarthmore President Val Smith, mostly consisting of anti-Israel slogans and symbols or messages targeting the college Board of Managers.
Graffiti was spray-painted on buildings, trees, fences, and walkways, and while the college staff was working to remove the damage, Smith said in a Friday campus statement that the vandalism was “so extensive and widespread” that it could take days to remove. The vandalism on some surfaces may not be able to be removed for an “extended period of time.”
Graffiti in photographs published on Instagram by Swarthmore SJP showed instances of the red inverted triangles popularized by Hamas propaganda to denote a targeted enemy. “Free Palestine,” read the graffiti. “Free Gaza.”
Vandalism was so extensive and widespread that it could take days to remove.
Smith pledged that if students were found among the vandals, they would face immediate disciplinary action, including interim suspension.
“I am as disappointed as I am angry at these criminal acts of cowardice. These six or so individuals, who made their way across campus in the dead of night while fully disguised, chose to violate not just our policies and the law, but our sense of community,” said Smith.
“I know that the ongoing violence in the Middle East continues to take an incalculable toll on members of our community, just as it does for individuals across the world. But the anger directed at the college is misplaced and ill-informed. While actions like those that occurred overnight may be designed to embarrass Swarthmore and generate views on social media, they serve no real productive purpose. They do not advance any cause or conversation.”
Some of the graffiti attacked the college Board of Managers, which Swarthmore called for the dissolution of in its March 23 demands.
“BOM U [sic] can’t hide,” read Friday’s graffiti. “Board of butchers.”
In December, Swarthmore SJP described the board as its “greatest enemy” because they supposedly invested the college's endowment in companies with relations to Israel and refused to divest from them. Swarthmore SJP called for the college to divest from and end contracts with Cisco Technologies and to “fully divest all finances from companies profiting from ‘Israeli apartheid and ongoing genocide.’”
“Drop Cisco,” read the graffiti. “Divest.”
The SJP chapter has also called for all legal proceedings and disciplinary actions against anti-Israel activists, including for involvement with the campus protest encampment the previous year. On April 17, SJP dropped banners with similar messages in a Swarthmore building. They later complained on Instagram that the administration called police officers to remove the masked activists.
“The more they try to silence us, the louder we will be. It is time to show Swarthmore that they can be held accountable,” SJP said at the time. “Long live the student intifada.”