Top US schools struggle with scale of Gaza protests – BBC.com

Protests against the war in Gaza have spread from Columbia and Yale to other universities as authorities scramble to defuse a nascent protest movement.

Dozens of students were arrested at Yale on Monday, while Columbia canceled in-person classes over fears of anti-Semitism on campus.

Similar protest “encampments” have sprung up on other campuses, including Berkeley, California.

School officials are under increasing pressure to ease tensions on campus.

Protests and heated debates over the Israel-Gaza war and freedom of expression have rocked major college campuses across the United States since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.

Students on both sides say there has been an increase in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents.

The campus protest movement was recently thrust into the global spotlight last week after New York City police were called to the Columbia University campus in New York, where they arrested dozens of demonstrators.

Since then, campus tensions have escalated at a number of US institutions.

On Monday, nearly 50 protesters were arrested at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where protests had grown to several hundred people over the weekend.

The university said those detained had ignored “multiple requests” to be released.

Many protesters called on Yale to reduce its investments in military weapons manufacturers.

Protest encampments were also established at other universities across the country, including the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Emerson College and Tufts.

About eight miles south in Columbia, at New York University, protesters set up tents across the street from the Stern School of Business.

As has been the case at some other universities, NYU protesters are calling on the school to disclose and divest its “finances and endowments from arms manufacturers and companies with an interest in the Israeli occupation.”

The campus protests, however, were marred by accusations of anti-Semitism.

For example, videos posted online appeared to show protesters near Colombia expressing support for Hamas’ attack on Israel.

Members of the protest groups denied anti-Semitism, arguing that their criticism was reserved for the Israeli state and its supporters.

On Monday, however, Columbia announced that all classes would be held virtually, with Columbia President Minouche Shafik citing incidents of “bullying and harassing behavior” in a statement.

Students who do not live on campus are advised to stay away.

A rabbi affiliated with the university also reportedly sent a message to 300 Jewish students in Columbia, warning them to avoid campus until the situation “significantly improves.”

In his statement, Dr. Shafik said tensions on campus had been “exploited and amplified by individuals unaffiliated with Columbia, who came to campus to pursue their own agendas.”

A working group was created to “try to resolve this crisis,” she added.

The university and Dr. Shafik – who visited Capitol Hill last week to testify before a congressional committee on the university’s efforts to combat anti-Semitism – are being asked to resolve the situation.

A group of federal lawmakers, led by New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, signed a letter Monday calling on her to resign over what Ms. Stefanik called “a failure to end the mob of students and agitators calling for acts of violence. terrorism against Jewish students.

The protests in New York also attracted the attention of Democratic Reps. Jared Moskowitz, Josh Gottheimer, Dan Goldman and Kathy Manning, who visited the campus.

Rep. Gottheimer said Columbia will “pay the price” if it fails to ensure that Jewish students feel welcome and safe at the university.

Meanwhile, in a letter posted online, North Carolina Republican Virginia Foxx – chair of the House Education Committee – wrote that Columbia’s “continued failure to restore order and security” constitutes a breach of the obligations to which federal assistance is subordinate and must be “immediately”. rectified”.

The protests also prompted Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriot NFL team and a prominent Columbia alumnus, to warn that he would stop supporting the university “until corrective action is taken.”

Some university faculty members, however, criticized Columbia for its handling of the protest and its call to police.

In a statement sent to the BBC on Monday evening, Columbia’s Knight First Amendment Institute called for an “urgent course correction.”

He cited university rules to say outside authorities should only be involved when there is a “clear and present danger to persons, property, or the substantial operation of a division of the university.”

“It is not clear to us why the encampment and demonstrations represented such a danger, even if they were not authorized,” the statement said.

Asked Monday about campus protests, President Joe Biden said he condemns “anti-Semitic protests” as well as “those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”

In addition to protests at universities, broader protests also took place in the United States following the events in Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian protesters have recently blocked major roads across the country, limiting access to airports including Chicago O’Hare International and Seattle-Tacoma International, as well as San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and the from Brooklyn to New York.