Tension in universities: classes suspended after protests in favor of Palestine

NEW YORK (AP).— Columbia University canceled in-person classes yesterday, dozens of protesters were arrested at Yale University and access to Harvard Yard was closed to the public, measures with which some of the most prestigious universities in the United States The United States is trying to reduce tensions over Israel’s war with Hamas.

These actions come following police last week arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters who had set up camp on the Columbia campus grounds, as schools struggle to draw a line between allowing free speech and maintaining a safe and inclusive environment.

In addition to protests at Ivy League schools, camps of pro-Palestinian protesters have also emerged at other universities, such as Michigan, New York, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In a statement posted yesterday on Instagram, New York University officials warned protesters that they must clear the square no later than 4 p.m. or face consequences.

The mass arrests began around 8:30 at night.

The protests have generated clashes between students, in which pro-Palestinian students demand that their schools express their rejection of Israel’s offensive in Gaza and distance themselves from companies that sell weapons to Israel.

Meanwhile, some Jewish students say that much of the criticism of Israel has turned into acts of anti-Semitism that make them feel insecure, and they highlight that Hamas still holds captive some of the people it took hostage in its raid on September 7. October in southern Israel.

The tension was still palpable yesterday at Columbia University in New York City, where the campus doors remained closed to anyone who did not have an institution identification card and where demonstrations broke out inside and outside the facilities.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning, who was visiting Columbia with three other Jewish lawmakers to tour the camp, told reporters following meeting with students from the Jewish Law Students Association that there was a “huge camp of people ” which took up regarding a third of the gardens.

“We saw banners stating that Israel should be destroyed,” he said following leaving the Morningside Heights campus.

A woman on campus led regarding twenty protesters into the street with slogans of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”, a phrase that can have different meanings among different groups.

Nearby, a small congregation was holding a rally for Israel.

Columbia Chancellor Minouche Shafik said yesterday in a note to the school community that she was “deeply saddened” by what was happening on campus.

“To reduce acrimony and give us all an opportunity to consider next steps, I am announcing that all classes will be held virtually on Monday,” Shafik reported, adding that students who do not live on campus should stay away from the campus. .

Robert Kraft, who owns the NFL’s New England Patriots and funded the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life on Columbia’s campus, said he will end his donations to the university.

“I am no longer confident that Columbia is capable of protecting its students and staff, and I do not feel comfortable supporting the university until corrective actions are taken,” he said in a statement.

Protests have emerged on many university campuses since the Hamas attack in southern Israel, where militants killed regarding 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took regarding 250 hostage.

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