At least 36 US universities have pro-Palestine camps

Manifestations Student-organized pro-Palestine protests are spreading across US universities. Camps have already been organized in at least 36 universities and in 12 of these there are records of arrests for anti-Semitic speeches. Harvard, Princeton, Brown and Yale, which are part of the Ivy League (group of the best in the country), registered actions.

Students ask for institutions to separate themselves from companies linked to the Israeli government. The numbers are from the newspaper The New York Times until this Thursday (April 25, 2024).

ACTS IN COLUMBIA

On Monday (April 22), Columbia University decided provide the option of remote classes for students who do not feel safe on campuses where protests are taking place.

“Safety is our highest priority as we strive to support our students’ learning and all necessary academic operations”said rector Angela Olinto.

HARVARD

On Wednesday (April 24), several students from Harvard University started a camp in Harvard Yard, considered the oldest area of ​​the university’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The place already has more than 30 stalls. The event is organized by the Hoop (Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine) Coalition.

In a statement on Instagram, the group said it has established what they call “liberated zone” (free zone, in free translation), referring to the camp, “to demand an end to Harvard’s moral and material complicity in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people”.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

In Columbia, New York, protests began on April 17, with students setting up camps. The next day, on April 18, police arrested more than 100 people who were at the demonstration for spreading anti-Semitic messages and harassing Jewish students.

In https://twitter.com/desireerugani/status/1781957626919616684a woman appears holding a sign with the message “Al-Qassam’s Next Targets” (“Al-Qassam’s next targets”, in free translation) and an arrow pointing to Jewish students who waved the flag of Israel and the United States. The Al-Qassam brigades are the military arm of Hamas.

Social media posts also show what appear to be pro-Palestinian activists outside the Columbia campus telling pro-Israel students to “return to Poland”. Some protesters were also recorded telling Jewish students: “You have no culture”, “all you do is colonize”, “go back to Europe”, “stop killing children” It is “never forget October 7th”.

Watch (6min27s):

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

At NYU (New York University, in Portuguese), at least 150 pro-Palestine protesters were arrested by the police during an act carried out on campus. The arrests were carried out after the North American institution authorized police action.

New York City Deputy Police Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said that while authorities dispersed part of the protest crowd, other protesters turned to violence and attacked police with bottles and chairs.

In a statement, university spokesman John Beckman said he said what acts one showed one “disorderly, disruptive and antagonistic behavior that interfered with the safety of our community”.

Videos posted on social media show that protesters and police clashed.

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PRINCETON

Already at University Princeton, New Jersey, about 100 students started a camp this Thursday morning (April 25). They require financial divestment from the institution in “companies that profit from or engage in Israel’s military campaign, occupation and apartheid policies”.

According to information from the student newspaper The Daily Princetonian, the institution’s security issued an alert to students as soon as the tents were erected. At least 2 students were arrested.

YALE

At Yale University in Connecticut, at least 47 pro-Palestine protesters were arrested by the police. According to information from the student newspaper Yale Daily Newsprotesters occupied the campus to protest the war in the Gaza Strip and to call on the university to stop investing in “military weapons manufacturers”.

After the arrests, more than 350 people blocked access roads to Yale in a demonstration against the arrests. Arm in arm, forming a circle, the protesters shouted messages such as “this is not democracy” It is “free Palestine”.

Watch (2min13s):