Campus anti-war protesters dig in from New York to California as universities and police take action
NEW YORK — From New York to California, students protesting the war between Israel and Hamas slept in tents on college campuses, while some universities closed camps and arrested dozens of demonstrators after reports of anti-Semitic activity.
As the death toll rises in the war in Gaza, protesters across the country are demanding that schools cut financial ties with Israel and divest companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have turned into anti-Semitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.
At Columbia University in New York City, where early protests led to pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country, students and administrators have begun negotiations, the university said in a statement Saturday evening.
“Dialogue between university officials and student organizers is ongoing. We want to be clear: there is no truth to the claims of an impending lockdown or evictions on campus,” the Columbia government statement said.
Although the university repeatedly set and then postponed deadlines for the removal of the encampment, the school sent an email to students saying that bringing back police “at this time” would be counterproductive.
Decisions to involve law enforcement, which have led to hundreds of arrests across the country, have prompted college faculty members in California, Georgia and Texas to initiate or condone votes of no confidence in their leadership. They are largely symbolic rebukes, without the power to impeach their presidents.
Washington University in St. Louis locked down some campus buildings and arrested protesters on Saturday. St. Louis police said in a social media post that they were assisting campus police, although city officials made no arrests.
The Riverfront Times, a St. Louis weekly, reported that more than 80 people were arrested during the protest that started in public areas before moving to campus in the afternoon. Megan Green, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, said in a social media post that she was present and that the protest remained calm “until the police came in as an ambush.”
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein said in a social media post that she and two of her campaign managers were among those arrested on the Washington University campus.
The University of Southern California said Saturday it had temporarily closed its University Park Campus to non-residents, without providing details about the closure or possible enforcement actions.
Joel Curran, senior vice president of communications, said in a statement that USC property was destroyed by members of a group “that continued to illegally camp on our campus,” disrupting activities and harassing students and others.
Students have refused numerous attempts by university president Carol Folt to meet, and the administration is hoping for “a more reasonable response Sunday before we are forced to take further action,” Curran said.
“While the university fully supports freedom of expression, these acts of vandalism and intimidation are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Curran said.
In Boston, riot police cleared an encampment on the campus of Northeastern University on Saturday. Massachusetts State Police said about 102 protesters have been arrested and will be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct. Protesters said they were given about 15 minutes to disperse before being arrested.
As workers tore down tents and collected the camp’s rubble, several dozen people across the camp chanted “Let the children go” and chanted slogans against the war in Gaza. They also jeered as police cars drove past and mocked the officers standing guard.
Northeastern said in a statement that the demonstration, which began two days ago, was “infiltrated by professional organizers” with no ties to the university and used anti-Semitic slurs, including “kill the Jews.”
“We cannot tolerate this type of hate on our campus,” the statement on social media said.
The student group Huskies for a Free Palestine disputed the university’s statement, saying in a statement that counter-protesters were responsible for the insults and that no student demonstrators “repeated the disgusting hate speech.”
Students at the Boston protest said a counter-protester tried to incite hate speech but insisted their event was peaceful and, like many across the country, aimed to draw attention to what they described as the “genocide” in Gaza and their university’s complicity in the war. .
The president of the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology said in a statement Saturday that an encampment there had become a “potential magnet for disruptive protesters from outside” and that it took hundreds of staff hours to keep safe.
“We have a responsibility to the entire MIT community – and it is not possible to safely sustain this level of effort,” said MIT President Sally Kornbluth. “We are open to further discussion on the means to end the camp. But this particular form of expression must end quickly.”
Indiana University campus officers and state police arrested 23 people Saturday at an encampment on the school’s Bloomington campus. Tents and canopies were placed at Dunn Meadow on Friday in violation of school policy, university police said in a news release. Group members were arrested after refusing to remove the buildings, with charges ranging from criminal trespass to resisting law enforcement, police said.
Arizona State University said 69 people were arrested early Saturday on suspicion of criminal trespass for setting up an unauthorized encampment on a grassy area on its Tempe campus. The demonstrators were given the opportunity to leave and those who refused were arrested.
“While the university will continue to be an environment that embraces freedom of expression, ASU’s first priority is to create a safe environment that supports teaching and learning,” the university said in a statement.
The tensions have increased pressure on school officials, who are scrambling to resolve the protests as May graduation ceremonies approach.
USC was criticized after refusing to allow the farewell address, which has publicly supported the Palestinians, to deliver a commencement address. Administrators then canceled filmmaker Jon M. Chu’s keynote speech. The school announced the cancellation of its main graduation event on Thursday, a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested by police in riot gear.
Folt, the university president, made her first public statement late Friday, calling the controversies “incredibly difficult for all of us.”
“No one wants people arrested on their campus. Ever. But when long-standing safety policies are flagrantly violated, buildings are destroyed, Ministry of Public Safety guidelines are repeatedly ignored, threatening language is shouted, people are attacked, and access to crucial academic buildings is blocked, we must take immediate action to protect our community,” Folt said. .
The nationwide campus protests began in response to the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7, when militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Israel pledged to eradicate Hamas and launched an offensive in Gaza. In the ensuing war, Israel killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.
Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests as anti-Semitic, while critics of Israel say it is using such accusations to silence opponents. Although some demonstrators have been caught on camera making anti-Semitic comments or violent threats, protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.
___
Perry reported from Meredith, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists in various locations contributed, including Jacques Billeaud, Aaron Morrison, Stefanie Dazio, Kathy McCormack, Jim Vertuno, Acacia Coronado, Sudhin Thanawala, Jeff Amy, Jeff Martin, Mike Stewart, Collin Binkley, Carolyn Thompson, Jake Offenhartz, Jesse Bedayn and Sophia Tareen.