As protests in Gaza intensify, anger spikes at US universities

The American city of New York: Tensions on many US campuses erupted Tuesday as a result of student outrage at university administration and police forces after days of pro-Palestinian demonstrations that had resulted in widespread arrests and the cancellation of classes.

Protests have rocked many prominent American campuses in the last few weeks. Students and other agitators, incensed by the Israel-Hamas conflict and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, have taken over university quads and are disrupting campus activities.

Protesters are demanding that Columbia University in New York, the epicenter of the movement, cut ties with corporations “that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine.”

Anti-Semitic events have been used by pro-Israel activists and others concerned about college safety to claim that schools promote intimidation and hate speech.

According to Ben Chang, the VP of public relations at Columbia University, students are entitled to demonstrate, but they must not interfere with university activities or engage in harassment and intimidation.

He also said that university authorities were meeting with the protesters “in good faith” and that they were responding to concerns voiced by Jewish students.

Meanwhile, protesters, some of whom are Jewish students at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” claim to have denounced anti-Semitism and stand in solidarity with Palestinians.

Sarah Borus, a Jewish student from Columbia’s Barnard College, made the following statement at a press conference attended by Jewish and Palestinian students: “My college administration, my representatives in Congress and my own president have continually acted as spokespeople for the Jewish community, equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.”

“They suspend us, silence us,” she continued.

Students who were protesting also said that a pro-Israel lecturer had insulted them and that no one was paying attention to anti-Muslim occurrences on campus.

According to CNN, Nick Baum, another Jewish student at Columbia, has expressed a sense of being “downright unsafe” on campus recently and has said that anti-Semitism has “reached a boiling point.”

After Columbia University President Minouche Shafik sent the police to arrest students last week, many professors said they would not be enforcing the suspensions, while others fought back.

The Palestinian cause and Israeli activity on campus have a long history, but the recent escalation of tensions due to the conflict has garnered significant attention from political and media outlets.

There is a lack of safety for Jewish students at Columbia University. “Students were forced out of the classroom because it has become so dangerous,” said Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday.

“Let’s be clear: these are not peaceful protests; these are anti-Semitic mobs.”

The arrests at NYU

As demonstrations continue to heat up at other universities, the New York Police Department informed AFP that 133 individuals were detained at New York University (NYU) and later freed after being served with court summonses.

The decision to summon campus police, according to an NYU official, was made when more protesters—many of whom were not believed to be associated with the university—broke through the barricades set up around the protest camp.

In a statement posted on the school’s website on Monday, the spokesperson claimed that the situation had “dramatically changed” due to “disorderly, disruptive and antagonizing behavior” as well as “intimidated chants and several anti-Semitic incidents.”

On the other side of the country, pro-Palestinian protesters took over an administration building at California State Polytechnic University, prompting the university to declare a temporary closure until Wednesday.

The government and President Joe Biden have also taken notice of the demonstrations.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona expressed alarm about the disturbance on college campuses, writing, “Anti-Semitic hate on college campuses is unacceptable.”

Hundreds of NYU staff and students went on strike that afternoon.

Protests have also taken place at Yale, UC Berkeley, MIT, and Michigan, with at least 47 individuals detained on Monday for defying orders to disperse.