IRIA News

Over two thousand college students from America’s most prestigious universities have been arrested and assaulted by the Police amid demonstrations against Israel’s atrocities in Gaza. The student protest in the U.S., termed the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, started at Columbia University and spread all across the country as makeshift “tent cities” have emerged on campuses.

Despite the threat of detention and suspension, pro-Palestinian protesters persist in gathering at schools throughout the nation, with more than 2000 demonstrators arrested across the United States.

Reports have been surfacing that several students are facing suspension at the prestigious Columbia University, where the pro-Palestinian encampment inspired numerous similar demonstrations nationwide, leaving remaining student protesters at risk of disciplinary action.

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik revealed earlier this week that despite numerous attempts at negotiations over the removal of the encampment, faculty leaders and student organizers failed to reach an agreement with the University administration. Flyers distributed on campus indicated that the university has been planning to set a deadline for students to vacate the encampments or risk suspension pending further investigation.

Several crackdowns were made in different universities nationwide, where police entered the campuses to beat up and arrest student protestors. Since the protest first started emerging on April 18, 2024, police have made crackdown at more than 25 campuses nationwide, with several universities witnessing more arrests.

Colombia University: Protesters have been occupying Columbia University’s Manhattan campus lawn for approximately two weeks. During the initial effort to disband the encampment on April 18, the NYPD was summoned to arrest 108 individuals. Several other crackdowns followed the protests; however, the persistent protestors are still occupying the campus lawn.

US Israel genocide of Palestinians pic.twitter.com/pKbYpFfI7C

— Pierre F. Lherisson (@P_F_Lherisson_) April 28, 2024

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA): The protest at the UCLA campus turned into a riot after violent clashes between the protesters and the counter-protesters, many of whom were masked. Hundreds of seemingly pro-Israel attackers assaulted an encampment of pro-Palestinian student protesters on May 1.

Harvard University: At Harvard University, demonstrators raised the Palestinian flag over the John Harvard statue in Harvard Yard, the location typically displays the American flag.

New York University: At least 120 students, including 20 faculty members, were arrested at NYU on April 22, after the first police raid. More than 116 protesters were issued notices for trespassing, while four received desk appearance tickets for various charges, including resisting arrest.

University of South California: On April 24, law enforcement personnel carried out a crackdown on the peaceful protest and detained 93 demonstrators at the University of Southern California. While some opted to depart, those who remained defiantly sat in place and were subsequently arrested individually.

Yale University: About 47 anti-Israeli protesters were arrested at Yale on April 21 after police stormed the campus with full riot gear.

University of Texas Austin: 57 protesters were arrested at the UT Austin campus when students tried to occupy the campus lawn and participated in demonstrations against Israel’s actions in Gaza. Later on Monday, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office reported an additional 79 individuals taken into custody in a follow-up operation.

University of North Carolina: UNC-Chapel Hill campus reported that approximately 30 individuals were arrested on Tuesday morning for declining to vacate the encampment as instructed by the university administration and law enforcement, according to a university statement.

Princeton University: Thirteen individuals were arrested following a short-lived occupation of the school’s administrative offices. During the protest, the student and faculty members staged a sit-in at the University’s administration office. The university stated that the students were charged with trespassing and have subsequently been prohibited from entering the campus.

Washington University: According to the Washington University Chancellor, Andrew Martin, one hundred demonstrators were arrested from the university campus, among them 23 students and at least four staff members. Martin criticized the protests, by calling them a “dark, sad day for WashU.”

The nationwide wave of protest captured the attention of the White House as President Joe Biden urged the protestors to remain peaceful. “President Biden respects the right to free expression, but protests must be peaceful and lawful. Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful – it is wrong,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement.

Pro-Palestine protests spread worldwide

The anti-Israel student protests are gaining traction around the globe including in the Middle East, Australia, and Europe. Students are setting aside their studies, abandoning classrooms, and participating in pro-Palestinian protests to express solidarity with the surge of campus demonstrations that have spread across the United States in recent weeks.

Europe: Campus sit-ins are currently underway at France’s Sciences Po and Sorbonne in Paris, where students are denouncing Israel’s actions as “genocide” and expressing discontent with university partnerships in Israel. Across the Channel, at the University of Warwick in the UK, students have established an encampment inspired by their counterparts in the American universities.

🚨BREAKING: On May Day, over 1,000 workers are blockading the UK Trade Department in London and BAE Systems’ arms factories in Scotland, Wales and Lancashire 🇵🇸 🚩 #StopArmingIsrael pic.twitter.com/1SA89rZ5ju

— Workers for a Free Palestine (@Workers4Pal) May 1, 2024

Students at the University College London (UCL) held a rally to protest Israel’s bombardment of Gaza at the university’s main quad. Ex-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s speech at Oxford University was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters. An activist unfurled a Palestinian flag from his pocket at the Oxford Union during Pelosi’s speech.

At La Sapienza University in Italy, there were violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officers.

Australia: Multiple student organizations at the University of Melbourne jointly established an encampment on the expansive central lawn of the Parkville campus. Over 60 tents, swags, and communal gazebos have been assembled as part of the protest.

The demonstrators are calling for the university to sever all connections with weapons manufacturers The university collaborated with American defense companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon on research projects unrelated to weaponry.

Middle East: In Kuwait, Lebanon, and Egypt students have taken over central areas of their campuses to record protests against Israel and its allies.

The students are displaying placards demanding an end to the conflict in Gaza and urging their universities and governments to divest from companies involved in business with Israel.

World reaction

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the pro-ceasefire demonstrations as ‘horrific’ saying the protests “have to be stopped”, as he categorized students as antisemitic.

Netanyahu expressed his dismay in a statement, stating, “What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific.” He raised concerns about the supporters of Israel and the safety of Israeli or Jewish students and faculty amid escalating protests.

Italy’s premier Giorgia Meloni urged the students to call off their protests. “Devastation, attacks, assaults on a Rectorate and a police station, with a police director getting punched. This is not demonstrating, it’s delinquency,’ Meloni added.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also justified the crackdowns on the protests stressing that the police had to “strike the right balance” between allowing people to “express their democratic views” while also keeping the capital safe.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi hailed “the uprising of Western students, professors and elites in support of the oppressed people of Gaza” as “a big event with vast dimensions that cannot be extinguished by beatings, arrests and acts of violence,” during a cabinet meeting last week.