Pro-Palestinian Encampments Take Over American College Campuses
Reposted from TIME
As the death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza rises, encampments led by pro-Palestinian students on American college campuses have spread. Despite disciplinary measures and police involvement, the demonstrations show no signs of stopping. Encampments have started on dozens of campuses, as student protesters demand for their universities to divest from companies that benefit from the Israeli occupation.
In one of the latest confrontations, police in riot gear on Saturday cleared an encampment that started two days earlier at Northeastern University in Boston, the Associated Press reported.
On April 18, Columbia University in New York City asked police to enter the campus, resulting in more than 100 protesters being arrested.
Police in New York also arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters at New York University on Monday, after dozens of protesters started an encampment outside the Stern School of Business earlier that day.
Columbia University and Barnard College subsequently suspended dozens of protesting students, citing safety concerns. The NYPD maintained that protesters were peaceful upon arresting them. Barnard College students, including Isra Hirsi—the daughter of U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Michigan—lost access to campus housing and meal plans.
“I really am in limbo. We don’t know when we’ll be let back in,” Hirsi says. She has been feeling overwhelmed and sad that she is “stuck on the outside” but notes that she was aware of the risks. “I felt like I had to take a stand,” she says. Hirsi is also feeling inspired by the many universities starting encampments. “It’s not a Columbia moment. It’s a moment for everybody,” she says. “It’s important for all of us as students at prestigious universities to really shed light on what is going on.”
Columbia University president Minouche Shafik gave a deadline of midnight Wednesday for pro-Palestinian student protesters who have set up an encampment on the school lawn to agree to disperse, before considering “alternative options for clearing the West Lawn and restoring calm to campus so that students can complete the term and graduate.” No agreement was reported after the passage of the deadline, which came hours ahead of a visit by Speaker Mike Johnson to meet with Jewish students at Columbia and address what his office described as “the troubling rise of virulent antisemitism on America’s college campuses.”
The university sent an email to students Friday night which said bringing back police “at this time” would be counterproductive, the Associated Press reported.
The ongoing demonstrations have sparked strong condemnation from lawmakers. On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott slammed a protest held at the University of Texas at Austin. “These protesters belong in jail,” he wrote on X, along with a video of state troopers in riot gear dispersing demonstrators. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled.” The Texas Department of Public Safety said that 34 people were arrested as of Wednesday night.
The White House condemned antisemitism on college campuses in a statement about Passover on Sunday but did not elaborate on particular institutions or incidents. “Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews,” said President Joe Biden. “This blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous–and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.”
The ongoing demonstrations have sparked strong condemnation from lawmakers. On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott slammed a protest held at the University of Texas at Austin. “These protesters belong in jail,” he wrote on X, along with a video of state troopers in riot gear dispersing demonstrators. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled.” The Texas Department of Public Safety said that 34 people were arrested as of Wednesday night.
The White House condemned antisemitism on college campuses in a statement about Passover on Sunday but did not elaborate on particular institutions or incidents. “Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews,” said President Joe Biden. “This blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous–and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.”
2024
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