Student protests over Israel-Hamas war roil US campuses ahead of graduations

Los Angeles, April 29

Colleges around the country implored pro-Palestinian student protesters to clear out tent encampments with rising levels of urgency Monday as classes wrap up for the semester and campuses prepare for graduation ceremonies.

Students and others have been sparing over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll. Many students are demanding their universities cut financial ties with Israel.

Protests were still active at a number of campuses. Near George Washington University, protesters at an encampment breached and dismantled the barriers Monday morning used to secure University Yard, the university said in a statement. The yard had been closed since last week.

At Columbia University, the site of the first protests, dialogue since last week between academic leaders and student organisers to dismantle encampments has not progressed, the university president said Monday. Protesters at Yale University set up a new encampment with dozens of tents Sunday afternoon, nearly a week after police arrested nearly 50 demonstrators and cleared a similar camp.

At least one school, the University of Southern California, cancelled its main graduation ceremony this spring. Others are asking the protests to resolve peacefully so they can hold their ceremonies.

Protesters on both sides of the rancorous debate shouted and shoved each other during duelling demonstrations Sunday at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The university stepped up security after “some physical altercations broke out among demonstrators,” Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a statement. There were no reports of arrests or injuries.

About 275 people were arrested Saturday at various campuses including Indiana University at Bloomington, Arizona State University and Washington University in St. Louis. The number of arrests nationwide has surpassed 900 since New York police removed a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Columbia University and arrested more than 100 demonstrators on April 18.

The plight of students who have been arrested has become a central part of protests, with the students and a growing number of faculty demanding amnesty for protesters. At issue is whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students through their adult lives.

How it started

The nationwide campus protests began as a response by some students to Israel’s offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7.

Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.

Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests as antisemitic, while critics of Israel say it uses such allegations to silence opponents. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organisers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.

Student demonstrations have sprung up across the US in various locations including New York, California, Missouri, Indiana, Massachusetts, Vermont and Virginia.

New York

Early protests at Columbia University in New York City, where demonstrators set up tents in the centre of the campus, sparked pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country. The demonstrations have caused the school to hold remote classes.

Columbia set a series of deadlines for protesters to leave the encampment, which they have missed, but the school said in an email to students that bringing back police “at this time” would be counterproductive.

The students and administrators have engaged in negotiations to end the disruptions, but the sides have not come to an agreement, university President Minouche Shafik said in a statement Monday.

On Sunday, students walked among dozens of colourful tents in front of Low Library, where rows of chairs already have been set up in preparation for commencement in May.

California

At UCLA, police set up barricades before hundreds of demonstrators on both sides joined a growing crowd Sunday near tents where pro-Palestinian students have been staying around-the-clock.

Pro-Israel demonstrators who arrived for a “Stand in Support of Jewish Students” rally said their goal was to “stand up against hatred and antisemitism.” The counter protest was organised by the Israeli-American Council, whose leader Elan Carr urged marchers to remain peaceful, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Across town, the University of Southern California said it was open Sunday after administrators shut down the campus a day earlier because of what the school called vandalism and disruptions.

USC drew criticism after refusing to allow this year’s class valedictorian, who has publicly supported the Palestinian cause, to make a commencement speech. Administrators then scrapped the keynote speech by filmmaker Jon M Chu. Last week the school announced the cancellation of its main graduation event, a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested by police in riot gear.

In the northern part of the state, officials Saturday ordered an “enforced hard closure” of California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt. Two halls remained occupied by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Missouri

Washington University in St. Louis locked some campus buildings and arrested protesters Saturday. Photos showed uniformed police attempting to remove masked protesters as others, also wearing masks, linked arms to thwart the efforts.

The university said in a statement that more than 100 people, including 23 students and four university employees, were arrested on suspicion of trespassing. Megan Green, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, said in a social media post that she was present and the protest remained calm “until the police came in like an ambush.”

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein said in a social media post that she and two of her campaign managers were among those arrested.

The university’s statement defended the action and said protesters “did not have good intentions on our campus and that this demonstration had the potential to get out of control and become dangerous.”

Massachusetts

Police in riot gear cleared an encampment at Northeastern University in Boston on Saturday. About 100 protesters were arrested and will be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, the Massachusetts State Police said.

Boston’s Emerson College said in a statement Sunday that it will not bring disciplinary charges against over 100 protesters who were arrested last week and will encourage prosecutors not to issue charges for encampment-related violations.

At Boston’s Tufts University, the school said in a statement that staffers would reach out to protesters Monday to plan for the end of an encampment in coming days.

Virginia

There were an unknown number of arrests over the weekend at a protest at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, a university spokesperson said Monday.

Protesters began occupying the lawn of the graduate life centre Friday, the university said in a statement. The gathering violated university policy, the school said, but there was a “safe and peaceful environment” over much of the weekend.