UC Berkeley student is refused diploma while holding Palestinian flag, video shows

Administrators at the University of California, Berkeley, refused to hand a diploma to a graduate holding a Palestinian flag, video shows.

At the ceremony for the university’s Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy, a student comes on stage holding the flag aloft.

He approaches administrators to receive his diploma, but is refused, the footage shows.

“Sorry, but we’re not allowed to have flags. Flags are prohibited,” an administrator says. “It’s not our policy. It’s the university policy.”

???????? — WATCH: UC Berkeley leaders refused to hand a graduation certificate to a student who brought a Palestinian terror flag onto the stage during a commencement ceremony Friday morning, but the crowd still cheered for him. pic.twitter.com/ildpSdDYIK

— Belaaz News (@TheBelaaz) May 27, 2026

The student walks offstage amid shouts from the audience.

“We cannot display flags. We are prohibited from displaying flags,” an administrator says in the footage.

The student returns without the flag, receives his diploma and walks offstage.

Anti-Israel activism has caused repeated controversies at university graduation ceremonies in the US.