Tensions flared on Monday between pro-Palestinian student protesters and school administrators at several US universities, as in-person classes were canceled and demonstrators arrested.
The protests, which began last week at Columbia University with a large group of demonstrators establishing a so-called “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on school grounds, have spread to other campuses, including Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Some Jewish students at Columbia have reported intimidation and anti-Semitism amid the days-long protest, which is calling for the prestigious New York institution to divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Photo: AFP
Classes were moved online on Monday, with university president Nemat Shafik calling for a “reset” in an open letter to the school community.
“Over the past days, there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus,” she said. “Anti-Semitic language, like any other language that is used to hurt and frighten people, is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken.”
“To deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps, I am announcing that all classes will be held virtually on Monday,” she added.
Last week, more than 100 protesters were arrested after university authorities called the police onto the private campus, a move that seemingly escalated tensions and sparked a greater turnout over the weekend.
“We are going to stay until they talk to us and listen to our demands,” said Mimi Elias, a social work student who was arrested.
“We don’t want anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. We are here for the liberation of all,” Elias said.
Joseph Howley, an associate professor of classics at Columbia, said the university had reached for the “wrong tool” by involving police, which had attracted “more radical elements that are not part of our student protests.”
“You can’t discipline and punish your way out of prejudice and community disagreement,” Howley said.
As the holiday of Passover began on Monday night, social media images appeared to show pro-Palestinian Jewish students holding traditional seder meals inside the protest areas on multiple campuses, including at Columbia.
Further downtown, police began detaining protesters who had set up their own encampment at New York University at about 8:30pm, the New York Times reported, after the school called the students’ behavior “disorderly, disruptive and antagonizing.”
There were also demonstrations at MIT, the University of Michigan and Yale, where at least 47 people had been arrested on Monday after refusing requests to disperse.
“The university made the decision to arrest those individuals who would not leave the plaza with the safety and security of the entire Yale community in mind,” the university said in a statement.
At Harvard, university officials on Monday suspended the Palestinian Solidarity Committee, the student group said on Instagram.
They were ordered to “cease all organizational activities” for the rest of the term, or risk permanent expulsion after holding an unregistered demonstration last week, student newspaper the Harvard Crimson reported, citing an e-mail to the group.
Universities have become the focus of intense cultural debate in the US since Hamas’ attack an Oct. 7 last year and Israel’s overwhelming military response, as a humanitarian crisis grips the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
US President Joe Biden on Monday said he condemned “the anti-Semitic protests.”
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