Pro-Palestine protests spread to 60 universities
Washington (EFE).- Protests against the war in Gaza have already spread to about 60 universities in the United States and more than 500 people have been detained in recent days, a movement that has drawn US President Joe Biden But the pressure to withdraw its support has increased. For Israel.
Since police tried to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus of Columbia University in New York a week ago, the protest movement has spread to nearly 60 university locations, according to a count prepared this Friday in The New York Times. Is on publications on social networks and local media.
As a result, about 500 people were detained. The latest arrests came at Ohio State University, where 36 protesters were detained last night. According to the local ABC affiliate, several arrests took place at Arizona State University.
Meanwhile, 57 students at the University of Texas at Austin were arrested this week, after prosecutors dismissed campus trespassing charges against them.
Attempt to suppress pro-Palestine protests
Strong measures have also been taken inside the campuses to quell the protests. For example, the University of Texas itself announced that it had “temporarily suspended” the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the organizer of the demonstrations on that campus.
They also banned the detained students from entering the university campus.
Additionally, the private George Washington University, located in the center of the US capital, warned students who began camping on Thursday that anyone living on campus could be temporarily suspended and banned from administrative access. Is.
Similarly, the University of Florida (UF) threatened suspension. Provision for expulsion for up to three years for students protesting on campus.
Despite efforts to suppress them, protests continue on university campuses across the country.
Denied Biden’s support for Netanyahu
According to photos from local newspaper The Daily, more than 75 students set up a camp at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, holding a large banner that read: ‘What have you done to end the genocide?’
Additionally, Legislators Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, who represent New York districts and lead the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, visited the Columbia University campus to show their solidarity with the students.
Ocasio-Cortez argued in statements to the student newspaper Bwog, “Any leader who has resorted to force and violence against peaceful protesters should feel deeply ashamed.”
The protests are aimed at showing opposition to the war in Gaza, which has already claimed more than 34,000 lives. And Israel rejects Biden’s unconditional support for the government of President Benjamin Netanyahu.
Additionally, protesters demand that universities end their investments in arms manufacturers. They do not want their tuition fees to fuel the conflict in Gaza.
There is a historical precedent for this type of student movements. In the 1980s, students in the United States managed to get some universities to liquidate their investments in apartheid-era South African businesses.
These protests have become more relevant as they are taking place in an election year. At a time when Democratic President Joe Biden is trying to woo youth votes in his favor to defeat Republican Donald Trump in the November elections.
new anti-war movement
Students at universities such as Harvard, MIT and Emerson, who have set up camps in favor of Palestine, defend that they can change the world to be more sensitive to human rights, by demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and increasing the level of mobilization. Are. The time of the anti-Vietnam War movement in the late 70s.
At one of these camps, at Northeastern University, M., one of the few students authorized to speak to the media, who wished not to be identified, assured EFE that the pro-Palestine student movement in the US “can change the world ” At the same time when it is being internationalized.
The student asserted that the country had not experienced such majority mobilization “since Vietnam”.
“People are opening their eyes and not agreeing with what is happening,” said M, who said the camp was set up with about 20 people on Thursday morning and when they reached a hundred, riot police arrived. Tossed them out.
“They surrounded us and tried to intimidate us, but so many people came to support us that they surrounded the police, who retreated,” said the student, partially covering her face with her kufiya.
Later, the students celebrated the victory by enjoying a huge dinner and performances by solidarity artists.
This Thursday, riot police charged against Emerson College protesters – who had set up camp on a central Boston street – destroying the concentration and arresting 108 students, following arrests at several campuses around the United States. One of the highest number of. Mobilization.
pro-palestine camp
Pro-Palestinian camps have spread to various universities in Boston, such as Tufts University, and Cambridge, such as the prestigious Harvard. While the administration has not taken action against the protesters, it has closed entry to the campus to anyone without institute identification.
A student at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who wanted to be identified only as Rami, told EFE that his classmates from universities in the Boston area were the first to arrive at the camp last Sunday.
Born and raised in Palestine, where most of his family still lives, Rami indicated that after what happened at Columbia University (New York) he thought “it was a good idea.”
The MIT student said there have been no conflicts so far with the administration, which has not taken action against protesters “despite the media being against it.”
He said the students in the camps are people “passionate” about the Palestinian cause. “We are connecting with a lot of people who are also passionate about protecting human rights and we are giving a very powerful image.”
Rami stressed, “Palestinians are aware of what is happening in American universities. This is the first time that Palestine has experienced global support and thanks to social media it is being shown that all this has happened like nothing before.” Bigger than cheese.”