Dozens of Harvard University professors staged a “study-in” protest in the school library on Wednesday to show solidarity with students who were punished for participating in a pro-Palestinian demonstration.

Thirty professors gathered in the Widener Library to speak out against the university's decision to exclude twelve students from using the facility.

“I can't imagine a university wanting to punish its teachers for reading in a library, but then again, I couldn't imagine it would have suspended our students for doing the same thing,” said law professor Andrew Crespo. “If the university wants to remain true to its cause, it cannot begin penalizing students for reading silently in the library just because those students have ideas they want to share with other students and other members of the community. “

Mahmoud Al-Thabata was one of the twelve students who entered the Widener Library in September. They wore keffiyehs and their laptops displayed signs in response to Israel's attack on Lebanon.

“It was quiet, there was honestly no disruption at all, the students were just learning,” he said.

Library security asked the group for identification. All 12 students received an email shortly thereafter informing them that they would be banned from visiting the library for just over three weeks and that “demonstrations and protests are not permitted in libraries.”

The professors staged a similar scene in the same classroom on Wednesday.

“My colleagues and I went into the same reading room, wore black bandanas, and read books about academic freedom and dissent,” Crespo said.

Before teaching at the university for almost ten years, Crespo graduated from school.

“In all my time here as a student and now as a faculty member, I cannot remember a time when the University has implemented so many rules and new enforcement practices that appear designed to limit expression and the exchange of ideas on campus “,” he said.

Harvard said it was still gathering information about Wednesday's demonstration before deciding on next steps.