Ideological Clash: Tensions Rise in US Universities Over Palestine Support
Cairo: Hany Kamal El-Din
Students from leading universities in the United States began organizing solidarity actions with Palestine last fall, from the very beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas. However, the situation on American campuses sharply escalated in mid-April when the president of Columbia University, Nemat Shafik, testified before the US House of Representatives Education Committee, controlled by Republicans.
In particular, she reported that participants in student demonstrations often express anti-Semitic views and even use anti-Semitic slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which implies that the Palestinian state should occupy the entire territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which calls into question the existence of the state of Israel. The president of the prestigious university also announced readiness for tough disciplinary measures against students and faculty participating in the protests (back in November, the administration of Columbia University disbanded two pro-Palestinian student unions for violating rules on organizing mass events).
In response, students set up a tent city on the university’s own premises. The administration of Columbia University appealed to the police. Police officers dismantled the tents and arrested 108 demonstrators, including the daughter of prominent congresswoman of Somali origin Ilhan Omar. All of them were charged with unlawful entry onto university property, with two of them also charged with obstructing the authorities. Omar’s daughter and several other protest instigators were suspended from classes.
The actions of Columbia University students inspired students from over 40 universities across the United States – from Texas to California. Among them are leading universities in the country – Harvard, Yale, Brown, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, University of California, Los Angeles, George Washington University, and many others. The leadership of the University of Southern California, where 93 students were arrested on April 24, decided to cancel the graduation ceremony scheduled for May 10, citing safety concerns.
Hundreds of students set up “solidarity tent cities with Palestine” on campuses; they demand that the administration cease all cooperation, including academic cooperation, with Israel and companies associated with it, as well as with any companies that support the war in the Gaza Strip, primarily defense companies producing weapons for the Israeli army.
As reported by the Associated Press, citing data from the Ministry of Education, about 100 US colleges have reported gifts or contracts from Israel totaling $375 million over the past 20 years.
The leadership of most educational institutions recognizes students’ right to freely express their views but expresses concern that their actions often border on anti-Semitism and create a dangerous situation for Jewish students.
Commenting on the situation also falls on the highest leadership of the United States. When President Joe Biden was asked if he condemns “anti-Semitic protests,” he answered affirmatively but mistakenly said that he also condemns “those who do not understand what is happening to the Palestinians.”
“People have strong passionate feelings about what’s happening in Gaza and the Middle East, and I understand them very well. When we see horrific human suffering and the deaths of children, women, and men caught in the crossfire caused by Hamas, it horrifies us. And we want to do everything in our power to put an end to it,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, commenting on the protests in the United States during his visit to Beijing.
Inspired by the example of American universities, students in France also began to act – on April 24, about 100 students from the Sciences Po Institute of Political Studies in Paris set up a tent camp on the campus. Sciences Po is one of the leading French universities; five of the eight presidents of the Fifth Republic graduated from it – Emmanuel Macron, Francois Hollande, Jacques Chirac, Francois Mitterrand and Georges Pompidou. After negotiations with the management of the institute, most of the students stopped the protest, but some of them still had to be removed from the campus with the help of the police. Classes were moved online, and the institute’s management said it strongly condemned the actions of students who undermine the educational process and announced the punishment of those involved in the protest.
Despite the ban, the protest resumed two days later. Students occupied the central building of the campus, blocked the entrance with trash cans and bicycles, hung Palestinian flags and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans. One of their demands to the management of Sciences Po is that the institute sever its existing ties with Israeli universities. On April 26, clashes almost broke out on the streets near the institute between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators who had moved there; the police again intervened in the situation.
Palestine supporters also protested at another prestigious French university, the Sorbonne, on April 25, the day Macron gave a keynote address there on the future of Europe. Protesters called on the president to support the Palestinians and accused him of “complicity in the massacre in Gaza.”
In mid-April, actions in favor of Palestine were held in Rome by students of Sapienza University, one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions in Italy. After clashes with police, in which at least two people were arrested, the students chose a non-violent protest – on April 17 they chained themselves and went on a hunger strike. They accused the institute’s leadership of not only ignoring, but also “silencing the academic community’s call” for peace. Students also called for an end to cooperation with Israeli universities.
By the end of the month, pro-Palestinian protests began in Britain. Students from the University of Warwick, Coventry, pitched tents on campus to protest the university’s ties to Israel; Students from University College London (UCL) gathered outside the school on April 26, chanting “No more money for Israel’s crimes!”
On April 23, the banner of American student protests was taken up by students at the University of Sydney in Australia. They also set up a tent city on campus and set out traditional demands on the university administration – an end to cooperation with Israel and the manufacturers of weapons supplied to it. In the following days they were joined by students from the University of Melbourne.
