What is happening on college campuses and why are there protests at universities in the United States?
Protests against the Israeli military actions in Gaza have spread to multiple campuses across the US drawing varying responses from college administrations.
The Hamas invasion of Israel on 7 October sparked a military retaliation that has left 1.9 million Gazans internally displaced, 85% of the population, according to the United Nations. The daily bombardments by the Israeli military have damaged or destroyed much of the infrastructure in the strip with housing accounting for nearly three-quarters in an estimated cost of damage assessment report.
This has resulted in civilians setting up tent cities, especially in southern Gaza close to the border with Egypt. In solidarity with those refugees and to draw attention to their plight, students at universities across the United States have set up their own encampments on roughly 30 campuses to protest the Israel-Hamas war.
Insight | U.S. Constitution is clear on peaceful protesting
What is happening on college campuses and why are there protests at universities in the United States?
While the demands vary from college to college, the pro-Palestinian organizations have one common ultimatum, that their schools divest from Israel and companies that are profiting from the military actions in Gaza. Until recently, the protests had been mostly peaceful with unaffiliated individuals being broadly blamed for offensive rhetoric and acts of violence.
Nonetheless, some of the rhetoric and confrontations raised the alarm of antisemitism and caused Jewish student to be concerned for their safety on campus. In the case of Columbia University, this prompted President Minouche Shafik to authorize the New York Police to come onto campus to remove the encampment on the school’s South Lawn.
Over 100 students were arrested for “trespassing” but the incident triggered a widening of the pro-Palestinian protest movement and more encampments popped up on campuses across the nation. While the response has been varied from one college to another, several universities have called in the police to have protesters removed from their campuses.
Those crackdowns have led to more arrests and an escalation of tensions. Some interactions between authorities in riot gear and protesters have turned violent. There have also been clashes with counter-protesters on some campuses.
However, some college administrations have opted to take a non-confrontational approach with student protesters in order to de-escalate the situation. They have allowed encampments or symbolic encampments to remain in place to provide a space for free speech generally on the condition that the protest remains non-violent doesn’t disrupted normal campus operations.