Police in riot gear were deployed to face off with students at the University of Texas.
Pro-Palestine protests have spread to more college campuses in the US, denouncing the mounting deaths in Gaza. Over a hundred students have been arrested for campus occupation, which Jewish students claim to be antisemitic.
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Some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the US – the strongest ally of Israel – have been facing protests over the Gaza war. Their demands include a ceasefire, an end to US military aid to Israel, and the withdrawal of university investments from arms supplies and companies benefiting the war.
At New York’s Columbia University, where the protests began, over 100 students were arrested after a pro-Palestine rally was dispersed by the cops last week. Amid spiralling tensions, it cancelled in-person classes last Monday and switched to virtual learning.
At the University of Texas in Austin on Wednesday, police in riot gear were deployed to face off with students who walked out chanting “down with occupation”. Over 20 protesters were arrested, with State Governor Greg Abbott declaring “these protesters belong in jail”. “Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled,” the Governor said.
As many as 50 protesters were detained at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles after hundreds of students started an occupation on the campus and raised “free, free Palestine” and other controversial slogans. This prompted the university to announce closing the campus to visitors. Classes, however, would continue here.
Protests have also erupted at Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), UC Berkeley, the University of Michigan, and Brown. At Harvard, students have begun an encampment exercise, setting up tents on the campus. At a protest in New York University, over 130 people were arrested on Monday while another nine people were detained reportedly at the University of Minnesota.
Several Jewish students’ group have labelled these protests “antisemitic”, claiming they are against Israel and Zionism, but pro-Palestinian protests differ with this conclusion. They claim being anti-Israel was not the same as anti-semitism, which means they hatred against Jews.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the US protests as “horrific” and said that “antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities.” “Anti-Semitism on campuses in the United States is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s. The world cannot stand idly by,” he said sharing a video message.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre played down the protests and said Biden backed free speech. She told reporters President Biden “believes that free speech, debate and non-discrimination on college campuses are important.” The White House had earlier condemned antisemitism on college campuses over pro-Palestine protests.
House Speaker Mike Johnson faced jeers during his visit to the Columbia campus on Wednesday, which he denounced as a “mob rule” and “virus of antisemitism”. His suggestion that the National Guard could be brought in sparked strong emotions and brought back memories of the 1970 killing of unarmed students protesting the Vietnam war.
Israel had launched the war against the Palestinian Hamas group after they attacked bordering areas on October 7 and claimed at least 1,170 lives. The war, in its seventh month, has also seen 34,200 deaths in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and sparked concerns across the world.
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