NOS News•today, 2:43 PM
From New York to California, protests against the war in Gaza are spreading at universities across the United States. True tent camps are unfolding on the campuses, complete with buffet, music and a so-called security team that must keep out intruders.
The protests are not only spreading, but also regularly lasting for days. Until the police, sometimes with a heavy hand, break up the demonstrations. What started as a peaceful protest with dozens of students slowly turned into larger and grimmer protests. According to some, the actions of the police add fuel to the fire.
“Students should be able to express their solidarity with the people of Gaza without being portrayed as sympathizers of Hamas, as anti-Semites or as terrorists. It is scandalous,” Bassam Khawaja, a lecturer at the law school of Columbia University in New York, told The Guardian . He condemned the university president’s decision to involve police in a protest that “was by no means violent.”
This week, students from that university protested in large numbers on campus. They demand a cease-and-desist in Gaza and strongly criticize President Biden’s administration. The US is Israel’s largest ally and arms supplier. The protest at Columbia University turned out to be the starting signal for a much larger and more widely supported protest in the United States, including among teachers.
In New York, several people have been arrested in recent weeks during protests at universities:
American students protest against war in Gaza
According to The Washington Post, more than 500 people have been arrested on various American campuses so far. This weekend alone there were more than 200, the majority of which were arrested at Northeastern University in Boston.
Northeastern’s university administration felt that the protest was getting out of hand and decided to intervene. “What started as a student protest was taken over by professional organizers with no ties to Northeastern,” read the statement on X. “The use of anti-Semitic slogans such as ‘Death to the Jews’ crossed a line.”
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AFP
Protest at the University of California Los Angeles (Photo: April 27, 2024) -
EPA
Protest on the campus of George Washington University -
EPA
The pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University are also receiving support from ultra-Orthodox Jews
The group that organized the protest, Huskies for Free Palestine, strongly denies that the protest was taken over by outsiders. They also did not shout anti-Semitic slogans, the group says. Students present say that counter-demonstrators with Israeli flags tried to incite the pro-Palestinian demonstrators to make hate speeches. Go on social media https://twitter.com/DSAWorkingMass/status/1784215258439073912 around that moment at the protest.
Anti-Semitism
Although the protests are still generally peaceful, universities and Jewish students are noticing an increase in anti-Semitism. Last month, nine Jewish students from prominent universities told the US Congress about their experiences. They feel unsafe and say they regularly experience physical and verbal violence. Some students have stopped wearing yarmulkes and hide their necklaces with a Star of David.
