Support for Palestine –

A series of demonstrations are rocking college campuses across the United States as graduation ceremonies approach, as administrators face demands that schools cut financial ties with Israel over its war with Hamas.

Many universities were calm yesterday followingnoon, but regarding 275 people were arrested Saturday at several educational centers, including Indiana University in Bloomington, Arizona State University and Washington University in St. Louis. With this, the number of arrests nationwide now stands at almost 900 since New York City police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University and arrested more than 100 protesters on April 18.

Since then, students have barricaded themselves in dozens of pro-Palestinian camps across the United States, to which university authorities have resorted to a variety of responses: arrests and the filing of criminal charges, suspension of students, or simply persistent requests for students to leave. remove. Now sanctions once morest students are also being protested, with both students and a growing number of teachers demanding an amnesty. There is concern regarding whether suspensions and legal charges will remain on students’ records following leaving college.

Professors at universities in California, Georgia and Texas have initiated or approved motions of no confidence in their leaders, which are largely symbolic.

White House

White House Security Council spokesman John Kirby said President Joe Biden “knows there are very intense feelings” but will leave the management of the protests to local authorities.

“People should have the ability to express their views and share their perspectives publicly, but it should be peacefully,” Kirby said on ABC’s “This Week.”

In an interview broadcast yesterday, the leader of the Republicans in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, described what happened as a “dangerous situation” and blamed the university authorities.

“There is also anti-Semitism, which is totally unacceptable. “I’m shocked to see that in this country,” McConnell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

How it began

At Columbia University in New York City, where the first protests sparked pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country, students and administrators have engaged in negotiations, the university said in a statement released Saturday night.

Columbia has set a series of missed deadlines for protesters to end their encampment, but calling the police once more “at this time” would be counterproductive, the school wrote in an email to students. campus.

Yesterday students might be seen walking among dozens of colorful tents.

California

Protesters for and once morest Israel exchanged shouts and shoves during protests yesterday at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. Local media reported images of police erecting barricades before hundreds of people from both sides joined a growing crowd at UCLA’s Dickson Quad, near where pro-Palestinian students have remained day and night in tents. Pro-Israel protesters who organized a “sit-in in support of Jewish students” indicated that their goal was “to confront hatred and anti-Semitism.”

Across town, the University of Southern California (USC) said in X that its University Park campus was open once more to students, staff, faculty and registered guests. USC announced restrictions Saturday on nonresidents following a property of the institution was vandalized by members of a group that, according to the university, “has continued to camp illegally,” disrupting operations and harassing people.

The students declined USC President Carol Folt’s invitations to meet, and the university administration remained hopeful that “there would be a more reasonable response on Sunday, before we are forced to take additional measures,” she said. Joel Curran, senior vice president of communications.

USC came under fire following refusing to allow its valedictorian, who has publicly supported the Palestinian cause, to deliver a commencement speech. The institution later canceled filmmaker Jon M. Chu’s keynote address. Last week, the school announced the cancellation of its main graduation event, a day following more than 90 protesters were arrested by riot police.

In the northern part of the state, officials on Saturday ordered a “total closure” of California Polytechnic State University in Humboldt. Two rooms were still occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters.

Missouri

Washington University in St. Louis closed some campus buildings and detained protesters Saturday. Photos show uniformed police attempting to remove masked protesters, while others, also with their faces covered, linked arms to obstruct attempts to remove them.

The university said in a statement that more than 100 people — including 23 students and four university employees — were arrested on suspicion of trespassing. Megan Green, president of the San Luis Board of Aldermen, said on social media that she was present and that the protest had been calm “until the police arrived as if in an ambush.”

Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for president of the United States, said on social media that she and her two campaign managers were among those detained.

In its statement, the university defended the measures, saying the protesters “were up to no good on our campus and that this demonstration had the potential to get out of control and become dangerous.”

Some of those detained also face charges of resisting arrest and assault, including wounding three police officers, the statement said. Those injuries include a severe concussion, a broken finger and a groin injury.

The Missouri branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the arrests, calling them “severe.”

Massachusetts

In Boston, police in riot gear cleared a campsite on the campus of Northeastern University on Saturday.

Massachusetts State Police reported that regarding 102 protesters were arrested and will be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct.

The school said in a statement that the demonstration, which began two days ago, had been “infiltrated by professional organizers” with no affiliation to the school and that anti-Semitic slurs, such as “kill the Jews,” had been uttered.

The student group Huskies for a Free Palestine refuted the university’s version, stating in a statement that those responsible for the insults were protesters at the other protest and that no students at the protest “repeated the disgusting hate speech.”

Students at the Boston protest said a protester on the other side tried to instigate hate speech, but they insisted their event was peaceful.

Indiana

Indiana University campus police and state troopers arrested 23 people Saturday at a campout on the school’s campus in Bloomington. Tents and awnings were set up on Friday, a violation of school policy, and members of the group were arrested following refusing to remove the structures. They were charged with charges ranging from trespassing to resisting law enforcement, police said.

Arizona

Arizona State University said 69 people were arrested early Saturday on suspicion of criminal trespassing for setting up an unauthorized camp on a grassy area of ​​its Tempe campus. Protesters were given the opportunity to leave, and those who refused were arrested.

Protests on college campuses in different parts of the United States began in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Hamas launched a deadly attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which militants killed regarding 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took regarding 250 hostages. Vowing to end Hamas, the Israeli government launched an offensive in Gaza. During the subsequent war, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local Health Ministry.

Israel and its supporters have called the university protests anti-Semitic, while critics say Israel uses such accusations to silence its opponents. Although some protesters have been recorded making anti-Semitic comments or uttering violent threats, protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.