US universities hit by pro-Palestinian protests

US Universities take action in response to protests against the war in Gaza, trying to find the line between freedom of speech and security.

Yale university

On Monday, April 22, about 45 protesters were arrested on Yale University grounds for trespassing on campus. All of them were released with an obligation to appear in court. On Friday, demonstrators set up tents on campus and protested throughout the weekend, demanding that Yale stop investing in defense companies that do business with Israel. Protesters were repeatedly called to leave the university grounds.

New York University

There are also detainees on the New York University campus. Students set up a camp there – and yesterday, April 22, it grew to hundreds of protesters. The university said it urged the crowd to disperse and called the police when unrest on campus began – “intimidating slogans and anti-Semitic incidents”.

Columbia University

Columbia University, where there have also been protests on and off campus, moved classes online “to calm tensions and give everyone the opportunity to consider next steps.” Last week, more than a hundred pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on the university campus after setting up a tent camp on its territory.

On Monday, April 22, protests at the university continued. At the campus gates, about two dozen protesters chanted the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” A small group of pro-Israel demonstrators protested nearby.

Harvard University

The Harvard University campus has been closed to outside visitors. Students were allowed to set up tents and tables only with the permission of the administration, threatening disciplinary punishment for violating the rules.

The Harvard Student Solidarity Committee for Palestine said the university had suspended its activities. The notice, provided to The Associated Press by the student organization, said the committee violated rules and did not attend training after being placed on probation. Harvard officials did not respond to questions from the AP.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

On Sunday evening, about twenty students set up camp and on the grounds of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “The university didn’t even call for a ceasefire. [в Газе]and this is our demand,” one of its participants explained the purpose of the action.

Jewish students say criticism of Israel often veers into anti-Semitism and makes them feel unsafe. They also recall that Hamas is still holding hostages captured in Israel last fall.

Protests swept across many college campuses following the October 2023 attack on Israel by the US-designated terrorist group Hamas. Then the militants killed more than 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage. Israel launched a military operation in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip with the goal of “destroying Hamas.” According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 34 thousand Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed as a result of Israeli shelling. There is no independent confirmation of these data.