A cause celebre is ringing out throughout prominent US campuses, with students demanding that the schools cease investing in Israel and weaponry that feed the Gaza war. Protesters say they are prepared to face incarceration, but will not stop until their demands are satisfied.
- According to Reuters, about 550 arrests have occurred in the previous week at major US institutions. Massive anti-Israel rallies are taking place on the campuses of Harvard, Columbia, Yale, UC Berkeley, and numerous other US institutions.
- University officials have stated that the protests are frequently unauthorised and have requested that police disperse them.
- Over the last two days, law enforcement has used Tasers and tear gas against students protesting at Atlanta’s Emory University, according to activists, while officers dressed in riot gear and mounted on horseback have swept away demonstrations at the University of Texas in Austin.
- A video of a professor being pushed down and detained by police at Emory University has gone popular on social media. In the footage, Professor Caroline Fohlin is seen attempting to interfere as police officers drag one student demonstrator to the ground.
- Student demonstrators claim they are demonstrating solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where the dead toll has risen to 34,305, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
- They want colleges to reduce their investments in everything related to Israel, including weapons that feed the conflict in Gaza. That includes funds managed by BlackRock, Google, Amazon’s cloud service, Lockheed Martin, and even Airbnb.
- It’s a long-shot demand, but university administrators and politicians have long opposed the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign against Israel, perceiving it as antisemitic since it puts into doubt the legitimacy of the Jewish state and singles out one country’s practices.
- At Columbia, the movement’s epicentre, university administrators are at odds with students over the dismantling of a tent encampment set up two weeks ago to oppose the Israeli invasion.
- Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden condemned “blatant anti-Semitism” as having “no place on college campuses.” However, the White House has stated that the president supports free expression at US institutions.
- Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union denounced the arrests and urged authorities to protect demonstrators’ free speech rights.
