How students have taken charge of pro-Palestine protests in US universities

Pro-Palestine protests have swept colleges and universities across the United States and parts of Europe with reports of clashes with police in riot gear also coming to the fore in some of these educational institutions.

However, unfazed by the clashes, students on Saturday vowed to keep their demonstrations going, while several school faculties condemned university presidents who have called in law enforcement to remove protesters.

As Columbia University continues negotiations with those at a pro-Palestinian student encampment on the New York school’s campus, the university's senate passed a resolution Friday that created a task force to examine the administration's leadership, which last week called in police in an attempt to clear the protest, resulting in scuffles and more than 100 arrests.

Veering into antisemitism

Though the university has repeatedly set and then pushed back deadlines for the removal of the encampment, the school sent an email to students Friday night saying that bringing back police “at this time" would be counterproductive, adding that they hope the negotiations show "concrete signs of progress tonight.”

As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding that schools cut financial ties with Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

The decisions to call in law enforcement, leading to hundreds of arrests nationwide, have prompted school faculty members at universities in California, Georgia and Texas to initiate or pass votes of no-confidence in their leadership. They are largely symbolic rebukes, without the power to remove their presidents.

But the tensions pile pressure on school officials, who are already scrambling to resolve the protests as May graduation ceremonies near.

Protesters rebuff police

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, issued an ultimatum to protestors who had barricaded themselves inside a building since Monday until 5 pm Friday to leave and “not be immediately arrested.” The deadline came and went. Only some of the protesters left, others doubled down. After protesters rebuffed police earlier in the week, the campus was closed for the rest of the semester.

In Colorado, police swept through an encampment Friday at Denver's Auraria Campus, which hosts three universities and colleges, arresting around 40 protesters on trespassing charges.

Students representing the Columbia encampment, which inspired the wave of protests across the country, said Friday that they reached an impasse with administrators and intend to continue their protest.

After meetings Thursday and Friday, student negotiators said the university had not met their primary demand for divestment, although there was progress on a push for more transparent financial disclosures. “We will not rest until Columbia divests,” said Jonathan Ben-Menachem, a fourth-year doctoral student.

Police-protesters clash

Police clashed with protesters Thursday at Indiana University, Bloomington, where 34 were arrested; Ohio State University, where about 36 were arrested; and at the University of Connecticut, where one person was arrested.

Hundreds of students and even some professors have been arrested across the US, sometimes amid struggles with police.

The University of Southern California cancelled its May 10 graduation ceremony Thursday, a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested on campus. The university said it will still host dozens of commencement events, including all the traditional individual school ceremonies.

Universities where faculty members have initiated or passed votes of no confidence in their presidents include Cal Poly Humboldt, University of Texas at Austin and Emory University.

The University of Illinois warned of consequences, including arrests and interim suspensions, for those who are taking part in on-campus demonstrations that began Friday morning.

University police in the afternoon attempted to escort staff into the area to remove the encampment but were prevented from entering by demonstrators, the university said in a statement on Friday night. This led officers to make the decision to “deescalate the situation” and step back to “reduce the risk of injury to themselves or the demonstrators.”

Major protests at US universities

More than 100 protesters were arrested at the Columbia University last week after the Ivy League university's president asked police to clear the protest site. Her request followed her testimony to Congress about the university's response to alleged antisemitism on campus.

In Atlanta, several dozen protesters “not affiliated” with Emory University set up tents on campus early Thursday morning, the school said in a statement. Administrators said the group of trespassers was later joined by members of the university community as per a BBC report. But when the protesters refused to disperse, the Emory Police Department “took a couple dozen people into custody”.

The decision by the University of Southern California to cancel the valedictorian's speech at commencement - followed by its cancellation of the main May 10 commencement - led to outrage on campus. The ceremony was expected to draw some 65,000 people to campus.

Hundreds of students and faculty members held a march from Georgetown University to nearby George Washington University, where an encampment was set up on Thursday. At least 20 tents have been erected on the university's normally quiet campus in northwest DC, reported BBC.

Police said 57 arrests were made on Wednesday night at the University of Texas (UT) in Austin.

Troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety wearing riot gear were seen using their bikes to push protesters back. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who called in the troopers, posted on X that the protests are antisemitic and called for student protesters to be expelled.

Voices of dissent against Biden

Thousands of students in US university campuses are up in arms against President Joe Biden for his handling of the war in Gaza.

From the Columbia University in the East Coast to the Stanford University in California, students have rallied behind the people of Palestine and are holding Biden responsible for the deaths of innocent civilians, including children and women, in Gaza by Israeli forces.

“Columbia University cancelled in-person classes, Yale police arrested dozens of student protesters, and pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up encampments at other colleges Monday as tensions flared again on campuses across the country over the Israel-Gaza war,” The Washington Post reported.

"Students at many schools are escalating protests over the war, living in tents on campus, disrupting university events, and risking and provoking arrest, leading to a growing sense of chaos and crackdown at colleges in the waning days of the academic year," the daily wrote.

The White House condemned such a protest. “Echoing the rhetoric of terrorist organisations, especially in the wake of the worst massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, is despicable. We condemn these statements in the strongest terms,” it said.

Online classes after protest

Students in Paris inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at a prestigious French university on Friday, prompting administrators to move all classes online.

The pro-Palestinian protest kicked off a day of drama at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, which counts President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal among its many famous alumni.

Protesters first occupied a central campus building and blocked its entrance with trash cans, wooden platforms and a bicycle. They also gathered at the building's windows, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans, and hung out Palestinian flags and placards.

Police step in to avert face-off

Later Friday, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators faced each other in a tense standoff in the street outside the school. Riot police stepped in to separate the opposing groups.

As night fell, a dwindling group of pro-Palestinian protesters refused to budge, ignoring police orders to evacuate the street and warnings of possible arrests. Eventually, demonstrators came out of the building, carrying a large Palestinian flag, to cheers from the protesters who had been supporting them outside. They then started to stream peacefully away from the area, watched by police.

Among protester demands was that Sciences Po sever ties with Israeli schools. In an email to students, Sciences Po administrator Jean Bassères pledged to hold a townhall meeting in the coming week and to suspend some disciplinary proceedings against students.

In return, students "committed to no longer disrupting courses, examinations and all other activities of the institution", the email said.

On Wednesday evening, more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters had also occupied a Sciences Po amphitheatre. Most agreed to leave after discussions with management but a small group of students remained. They were removed by police later that night, according to French media reports. The university administration closed all university buildings and moved classes online on Friday.

(With agency inputs)