Protesters against the Israel-Hamas conflict and police brawl on a Texas campus; Columbia University suspends

Numerous arrests were made after a scuffle between protestors and police on Monday at the University of Texas. Meanwhile, Columbia University started suspending students as pro-Palestinian protestors were urged by college administrators around the country to vacate their tent encampments ahead of graduation ceremonies.

Demonstrators are fighting over the Israel-Hamas conflict and its rising death toll from coast to coast, and as the last few days of classes draw to a close, the number of arrests at colleges around the country is getting close to 1,000. Colleges are being forced by the uproar to consider their support for free speech and their financial links to Israel. A number of Jewish students claim that the demonstrations have become antisemitic and have scared them away from the university.

The demonstrations have even extended to Europe, where scores of students were expelled from the Sorbonne university by French authorities after the occupation of the main courtyard by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. According to The Canadian Press, student protest camps have appeared at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, McGill University in Montreal, and the University of Ottawa in Canada.

An attorney at the University of Texas in Austin reported that at least 40 protestors had been taken into custody on Monday for trespassing and disruptive behavior. Some of these individuals were taken out by cops wearing riot gear who surrounded around 100 seated protestors and, in the face of cries, dragged or carried them out one by one. Another group of protesters blocked the path between buildings for police and an arrest-filled vehicle, resulting in a mass of people pushing and jostling and forcing the cops to deploy pepper spray and flash-bang devices to disperse the gathering.

On the 53,000-student campus in the state capital, where over 50 protestors were taken into custody the previous week, the altercation was a step up.

In a statement released late on Monday, the university said that encampments are not permitted on campus and that a large number of Monday’s protestors were not connected to the institution. Additionally, the university said that some protestors engaged in “physical and verbal combative behavior” with university employees, forcing administrators to contact law authorities.

Students and an increasing number of faculty members are calling for amnesty for protestors, and the situation of those who have been detained has become a focal point of demonstrations. Whether the suspensions and court records will follow the kids into adulthood is in question.

The first protests in Columbia that have persisted led to the Texas protest and others. Student activists on the school’s Manhattan campus on Monday disobeyed a deadline of 2:00 p.m. to vacate an encampment consisting of around 120 tents. Officials stated they may complete the semester in good standing if they departed by the deadline and completed a paper agreeing to follow university standards until June 2025. If not, they would be placed on suspension until an inquiry was conducted.

Hundreds of demonstrators persisted, walking around the quad and dodging mounds of makeshift flooring and green carpeting intended for the commencement celebrations the next week.

Some counter-demonstrators carried signs that said, “Where are the anti-Hamas chants?” while others waved Israeli flags.

A spokesman for the institution, Ben Chang, said that suspensions had begun even though no police were called to break up the protesters. Although the institution respected students’ right to free expression, he said that the campsite was a “noisy distraction” that was obstructing instruction and final test preparation. The institution said that after examinations and graduation, it would provide a different location for the demonstrations.

According to him, several Jewish students were really uncomfortable with the demonstrations.

There were not many more information from the institution immediately accessible, such how the suspensions would be implemented, how the students would be involved, or whether the suspended students would be kicked from campus. As of Monday night, according to the protest organizers, no suspensions had occurred.

Federal concerns over Columbia’s handling of the demonstrations have also been made.

A class-action complaint filed on behalf of Jewish students claims Columbia violated their contract by neglecting to maintain a secure learning environment in spite of its rules and commitments. It also questions the shift away from in-person instruction and asks for prompt legal action so that Columbia is forced to provide student security.

Concurrently, a legal collective advocating for pro-Palestinian students is pressing the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights office to look into Columbia’s adherence to the 1964 Civil Rights Act about their treatment.

Regarding the concerns, a university spokesman refused to respond.

Northwestern University said that, in an unusual move, it has come to a consensus with instructors and students who, together, make up the bulk of the demonstrators on the campus outside of Chicago. It permits nonviolent protests until the conclusion of spring semester on June 1st, in return for the removal of all tents with the exception of one assistance tent, and limits access to the demonstration area to students, teachers, and staff only, unless authorized by the university.

On Monday, for around ninety minutes, representatives of a sizable encampment met with University of Southern California President Carol Folt. Folt said that the meeting was held to provide her the opportunity to hear the demonstrators’ concerns, but she would not go into specifics about what was discussed.

On April 15, USC administrators stirred great controversy when they denied the valedictorian, who has openly backed Palestinians, the opportunity to give a graduating address. Their unusual decision was justified by vague security concerns. Then, administrators decided not to grant any honorary degrees and canceled the keynote address by alumni and director Jon M. Chu.

The camping and demonstrations on campus last week, which resulted in 90 individuals being detained by riot police, were sparked by the response as well as Columbia’s actions. The institution has decided not to hold its major graduation ceremony, which usually attracts 65,000 visitors to its Los Angeles campus.

Folt said in a statement late on Monday that “the students said at the end they wouldn’t have considered this meeting a win from their perspective, and I can fully appreciate that.” “I think that was crucial—for me, the most significant thing was that we were beginning to communicate.”

On Tuesday, Folt planned to meet again with the demonstrators.

In an attempt to save their commencements, administrators in other places have recently ordered the clearance of encampments. Officials threatened disciplinary action, including suspension and even arrest, when such attempts failed.

However, students at other prestigious colleges dug in their heels, and standoffs persisted at Yale, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and other institutions. At Virginia Commonwealth University, police dressed in riot gear attempted to disperse a protest camp late on Monday. They engaged in combat with the demonstrators and used zip ties and pepper spray to apprehend them.

Second-year doctoral student in sociology at the University of North Carolina, Jacob Ginn, claimed he had been protesting at the campsite for four days, including Friday’s talks with administration.

Regarding a possible police sweep of the campsite, Ginn said, “We are prepared for everything and we will remain here until the university meets our demands. We will remain steadfast and strong in the face of any brutality and repression that they try to attack us with.”