Over the last week, Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have erupted on campuses across the United States, calling for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and cessation of U.S. military aid to Israel.
On Wednesday, 93 people were arrested at the University of Southern California’s Los Angeles campus for trespassing. Despite certain U.S. politicians branding the demonstrators as “anti-Semitic” and the arrest of students, the anti-war protests continue to gain momentum.
The University of Southern California (USC) has closed its gates amid rising tensions after pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with police on Wednesday.
A growing number of protesters, including students and non-students, started a “Gaza Solidarity Occupation” at the university’s Alumni Park on Wednesday morning.
The USC Divest from Death Coalition said it was made of USC students, staff, faculty, alumni and Los Angeles community members. USC has come under fire after the university announced last week that it cancelled valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s planned speech after pro-Palestinian posts, citing potential campus safety risks.
The students with “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” opposed Israeli military action in Gaza and demanded the university divest from companies that “profit from Israeli apartheid.”
In Texas, police bulldozed into student protesters at the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday. More than 50 people were arrested, said a report from local media outlet Austin American-Statesman.
On Monday, more than 40 students from Yale University, who occupied Beinecke Plaza at the center of campus starting Friday night, were arrested.
Last week, Shafik, Columbia University’s president, sent a letter to the New York Police Department (NYPD), requesting that the police help remove individuals who had occupied the South Lawn of the university’s Morningside Heights campus.
The NYPD arrested more than 100 protesters from the campus of the university on the afternoon of April 18.
However, despite pressure and arrests, students occupying Columbia’s West Lawn said they are planning to remain until the university meets their demands for divestment from anything related to Israel. The negotiations between the university and student protesters regarding the dismantling of the pro-Palestinian encampment are still underway.
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