Pro-Palestinian Encampments Spread, Leading to Hundreds of Arrests
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/us/pro-palestinian-encampments-protests.html?
The article dated 4/24 begins:
Protests and encampments in support of Palestinians in Gaza have sprung up at colleges and universities across the country, and the police have intervened on several campuses.
In the week since Columbia University started cracking down on pro-Palestinian protesters occupying a lawn on its campus, protests and encampments have sprung up at other colleges and universities across the country. Police interventions on several campuses have led to more than 400 arrests so far.
Not only are the students protesting the war in Gaza, but they are challenging “their schools’ financial and academic ties to Israel and to weapons manufacturers.” Their actions have increased since Columbia cleared the encampment on April 18.
Encampments and protests have been reported over the last week by local news, student newspapers, social media posts and others at these locations.
Where the police have intervened
Columbia University: New York City police officers arrested 108 demonstrators on April 18.
Emory University in Atlanta: Several dozen protesters set up tents on a campus lawn on Thursday. Demonstrators accused the police of using pepper spray or tear gas.
University of Southern California in Los Angeles: After students set up an encampment on Wednesday, Los Angeles police officers ordered them to disperse and arrested 93 people.
Emerson College in Boston: Students pitched tents on Sunday evening. On Wednesday night, the Boston police arrested 108 people and cleared out the encampment.
University of Texas at Austin: On Wednesday, dozens of police officers, many of them in riot gear and some of them on horseback, arrested 57 people after they refused to disperse.
Princeton University: Students started to pitch tents on Wednesday. On Thursday, university officials sent the protesters repeated warnings to clear the area, and two graduate students were arrested. The officials said that the tents were voluntarily taken down afterward.
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata: Dozens of protesters were occupying an academic and administrative building on Wednesday morning. The campus has remained closed since Monday, after an attempt by the police to remove the protesters from the building turned violent, leading to three arrests.
University of Minnesota in Twin Cities: Nine people were taken into custody after they erected an encampment. The encampment was cleared Wednesday morning, but it appeared to have returned on Thursday.
Ohio State University in Columbus: Two students were arrested on Tuesday and charged with trespassing during an on-campus demonstration. On Thursday morning, student organizers said that they had formed an encampment.
Washington University in St. Louis: The police disbanded a protest and encampment on campus on Wednesday.
New York University: The New York Police Department made dozens of arrests late Monday after students occupied a plaza on campus.
Yale University: Hundreds of people have come out to protest since last week. On Monday, the police arrested more than 40 people.
Other schools where protesters have set up encampments
Harvard: Students set up an encampment on Wednesday after the school closed Harvard Yard for the week. The Harvard Palestinian Solidarity Committee announced that it had been suspended.
Brown University in Providence, R.I.: About 90 students set up an encampment Wednesday morning and said they would stay until they were forced to leave. The demonstrators have been informed they will face “conduct proceedings.”
University of California, Los Angeles: On Thursday morning, there were around 30 tents pitched on campus.
Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.: A coalition of students groups announced on Thursday morning that students had gathered before dawn to create a “liberated zone” on the campus.
Florida State University in Tallahassee: On Thursday morning, students began forming an encampment on campus.
City College of New York: Videos on Thursday showed students erecting a “Gaza solidarity encampment.”
George Washington University in Washington: Nearly 70 students from George Washington University and students from nearby Georgetown University established an encampment on Thursday.
Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.: Students began setting up an encampment on campus on Thursday morning.
Michigan State University: Around 35 students set up an encampment with about 18 tents on Thursday morning.
University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y.: Students set up an encampment on the school’s River Campus on Tuesday.
Tufts University in Medford, Mass.: About a dozen tents had been set up on the university’s academic quad by Wednesday morning. The Tufts encampment was not fenced off or surrounded by police officers or security personnel. A protester said he was unaware of any contact between protesters and the administration.
University of Delaware in Newark: Around 300 students and faculty members protested the war in Gaza on Wednesday. An encampment was also set up.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Students set up an encampment earlier this week.
The New School in Manhattan: Protesters set up tents inside a school lobby, and two dozen students formed a picket line on Tuesday.
The University of California, Berkeley: Students have set up an encampment.
University of Michigan: About 40 students set up an encampment on Monday morning.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte: An encampment was set up earlier this week.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Students set up an encampment on campus shortly after the Columbia students were arrested last week.
Rice University in Houston: Members of the Rice chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine formed what they called a “liberated zone” on campus on Tuesday.
University of Pittsburgh: Videos posted online on Wednesday showed an encampment and tents pitched on the school’s campus.
Where there have been other protests
University of Florida in Gainesville: Students held a protest on Wednesday, calling for the university to disclose its investments and divest from companies associated with the Israeli government.
University of Maryland in College Park: More than 60 protesters took part in a sit-in on Monday.
American University in Washington: Hundreds of students rallied and marched to the school president’s office building.
University of Texas at Dallas: Dozens of students staged a sit-in on Tuesday near the offices of the university’s president, urging the school to divest from companies with connections to the war. The students dispersed after they were promised a meeting with the president of the university.
University of Texas at San Antonio: A group of about 200 students marched on campus on Wednesday.
University of New Mexico in Albuquerque: Dozens of students, alumni and community members gathered to protest this week.
University of Texas at Arlington: The Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at the university announced a walkout on Wednesday.
University of Southern Maine in Portland: A group of about 30 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on Wednesday.
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FreeLink — This link to the NYT article may work for you if the other one didn’t.
The Middle East Studies Association and the Committee on Academic Freedom have issued a joint statement concerning escalating repression of protest on campuses:
The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association and its Committee on Academic Freedom view with increasing alarm the growing number of attempts to intimidate, repress, and criminalize campus protests against the ongoing Israeli state violence against Palestinians and the US diplomatic, military, and economic support for it. Federal, state and local government officials—from the president, to congressional members, to governors and mayors—have exacerbated the threats on campuses by encouraging university administrators to violate basic commitments to freedom of expression, while casually smearing overwhelmingly peaceful protesters with unsubstantiated claims of violence or discriminatory speech.
University leaders should constitute the first line of defense for students and faculty in the face of forces seeking to vilify, harass, and silence them. Instead, we regret that several university boards of trustees, presidents, and their administrations have acquiesced in the ugliest of campaigns targeting their students and faculty for engaging in what have been peaceful protests, joined by a wide cross-section of their campus community…..
www.juancole.com/...
UPDATE, April 26:
When police raided a protester encampment at Columbia University last week, the students at Yale were ready, tracking every minute of the chaos that followed with their smartphones on social media.
If students at the New York City Ivy League school were going to risk arrest, they would, too. By the next morning, Yale demonstrators had pitched their own tents. On a Zoom call that day, more than 200 students from dozens of other colleges across the country were strategizing on how they could replicate Columbia’s protest.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/26/columbia-protest-students-israel-gaza/?
free link: https://wapo.st/4diioxR
UPDATE #2 Secret meetings, social chatter: How Columbia students sparked a nationwide revolt
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/26/columbia-protest-students-israel-gaza/?
UPDATE #3 The Still Alive Children of Gaza Are Listening
and they have a message for the protesting university students. The video embedded in this little story is 30 seconds long, and the students speak English to the protestors: “we Love you.”
UPDATE #4 Protests continue as of Sunday April 28
UPDATE #5 USC: 17 History Department Faculty Demand Resignation of President, Others, for use of Violence against Campus Community Their letter describes the ;eaceful protest events planned and the USC calling in riot police.
