Protests at Columbia and other college campuses escalate
Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters have been arrested at different universities, including NYU and Yale, as tensions rise on college campuses.
NEW YORK − Columbia University announced that students had agreed to scale down their encampment Wednesday as protesters across the nation pressed their demands for an end to the civilian casualties in Gaza that have tested the American public’s historical ironclad support for Israel.
Police in Brooklyn made arrests for disorderly conduct after a street protest reached a standoff, days after hundreds of arrests were made at Columbia and New York University. Rallies and encampments have sprung up on campuses from California to Massachusetts this week, sometimes prompting police intervention. The protesters are calling for an end to US military support for Israel and for eliminating Israeli investments.
The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights organization, called on political leaders and university officials to stop “endangering” Jewish, Muslim, Palestinian and other students who conduct peaceful protests.
“Students should not have to risk their reputation, livelihoods or their safety to speak out against a genocide or their university’s complicity in genocide,” CAIR-NY’s Executive Director Afaf Nasher said in a statement.
Developments:
∎ At the University of Minnesota campus in St. Paul, police made nine arrests and cleared an encampment after the school asked them to take action, citing violations of university policy and trespassing law.
∎ In Massachusetts, encampments have been erected at multiple schools including Tufts University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Emerson College.
∎ California’s Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata will be closed Wednesday after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied a campus building, the school announced.
Protests in New York flare: US campuses brace for more unrest over Gaza war
At Columbia, student protesters gathered on campus early Wednesday for another day of demonstrations while just outside the gates protesters were chanting in support of the students. Earlier, the school issued a statement saying protesters had agreed to remove a “significant” number of tents, would allow only students to take part in the encampment, would follow city fire safety rules and would “make the encampment welcome to all and (prohibit ) discriminatory or harassing language.”
“In light of this constructive dialogue, the University will continue conversations for the next 48 hours,” the statement said.
A student organizer did not immediately respond to a USA TODAY request for comment on the deal.
Before the school issued its statement, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine said administrators threatened to bring in police and the National Guard if protesters did not acquiesce to their demands.
“We remain steadfast in our convictions and will not be intimidated by the University’s disturbing threat of an escalation of violence,” the group said in a statement.
Students at Brown University in Rhode Island established an encampment Wednesday. Large signs announcing “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” and “Brown invests in the Palestinian genocide” were prominently displayed.
The encampment was set up hours after Provost Francis Doyle sent an email to all students warning that encampments are a violation of university police and and that participants could face disciplinary action “up to and including separation from the institution,” The Brown Daily Herald reported. University Spokesperson Brian Clark told The Herald protest becomes unacceptable when it violates safety policies or interferes with “regular operations of the university.”
“We have been troubled by reports of violence, harassment and intimidation at some encampments on other campuses, but we have not seen that kind of behavior at Brown,” Clark said. “Any such behavior would not be tolerated.”
In Brooklyn, police made scores of disorderly conduct arrests when a street protest reached a standoff Tuesday night. The protesters, organized by the activist group Jewish Voice for Peace, had gathered at Grand Army Plaza, near the home of Sen. Chuck Schumer, who has led the effort in Congress to provide funds for the Israeli military. The protesters conducted a Seder dinner and demanded a cease-fire in Gaza.
By nightfall, demonstrators sat in the street and led protest chants against Israel and US foreign aid to the country. Police began pulling dozens of people, young and old, off the roadway. Officers handcuffed them with zip ties and loaded them on several buses that lined down the street.
“We refuse to let our traditions be used to starve, displace, and massacre Palestinians,” the Jewish Voice for Peace said in a tweet during the protest. “Taking seriously the mandate of the Jewish holiday of liberation requires us to show up with everything we have on the doorsteps of those still arming and funding these historic atrocities.”
The New York Police Department said officers arrested 208 demonstrators who blocked traffic at Grand Army Plaza.
Contributing: Reuters
