Uncategorized
Where are the Gaza protests at US universities?
Protests against the Gaza conflict broke out this week on dozens of campuses, including the University of Texas in Austin.
A movement advocating for academic institutions to shun businesses and people with connections to Israel in light of the current conflict there has taken hold on American college campuses.
Tensions have been escalating at universities in the wake of the 7 October attack by Hamas that left around 1,200 people dead in Israel, and led to Israel’s assault on Gaza that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians.
Major encampments and protests were seen first at Columbia University in New York, but have since erupted elsewhere across the country.
Students have been arrested at campuses in Los Angeles, California and in Atlanta, Georgia.
In Austin, Texas, the governor ordered state troopers to arrest protesters.
With protests now ongoing at over two dozen campuses, here are where some of the largest are taking place:
Columbia University
Columbia was the first university to see a major pro-Palestinian encampment form on campus, and among the first to be accused of antisemitism.
More than 100 protesters were arrested last week after the Ivy League university’s president asked police to clear the protest site. Her request followed her testimony to Congress about the university’s response to alleged antisemitism on campus.
But the mass arrests appear to have galvanised the movement, according to demonstrators who remained onsite one week later.
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose daughter was arrested at Columbia, told BBC News the movement started with just a few students but quickly spread due to the mass arrests.
“And because Columbia University decided to crack down on them and violate their First Amendment, this has now spread nationally and internationally.”
Emory University
In Atlanta, several dozen protesters “not affiliated” with Emory University set up tents on campus early Thursday morning, the school said in a statement.
Administrators said the group of trespassers was later joined by members of the university community. But when the protesters refused to disburse, the Emory Police Department “took a couple dozen people into custody”.
The statement did not clarify how many arrests were made and which charges the suspects could face.
University of Southern California
The decision by the University of Southern California to cancel the valedictorian’s speech at commencement – followed by its cancellation of the main 10 May commencement – led to outrage on campus.
The ceremony was expected to draw some 65,000 people to campus.
The valedictorian, who was chosen due to high grades and involvement in campus life, had posted a link to a website that was critical of Israel, which led to recent accusations of antisemitism.
The university said the cancellation was due to unspecified threats to campus security and did not condemn the student’s post.
But the decision angered both pro- and anti-Israel demonstrators. Pro-Palestinian protesters called for the student, who is Muslim, to deliver her speech.
Pro-Israel students called for the school to condemn her posts.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Police Department was called in and arrested 93 people.
Georgetown University
Georgetown University in Washington DC saw encampments being set up on Thursday.