New York:
Student demonstrators at Columbia University, the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests that have erupted at American colleges, said Monday they would not give in until the school met their demands, defying an ultimatum to disperse or face expulsion.
More than 350 people were arrested on campuses across the United States this weekend, with the White House calling for demonstrations to remain peaceful.
Authorities in Columbia, New York, issued a statement on Monday calling for the protesters' camp to be cleared and rejecting a call for the divestment of financial assets linked to Israel – a key demand of the protesters.
But student protesters pushed back, vowing to defend their camp on the prestigious institution's main field despite threats of suspensions and disciplinary action after a 2pm (6pm GMT) deadline.
“These abhorrent scare tactics mean nothing compared to the deaths of more than 34,000 Palestinians,” said a statement read by a student at a news conference.
“We will not move until Columbia meets our demands or … is forcibly moved,” said the student, who did not want to be named.
Protests against the war in Gaza, with its high number of Palestinian civilian casualties, pose a challenge for university administrators trying to balance freedom of expression with complaints that the rallies have turned into anti-Semitism and hatred.
A wave of protests against Israel's war in Gaza has been sweeping American college campuses from coast to coast for nearly two weeks, after about 100 demonstrators were arrested in Columbia on April 18.
Images of police in riot gear being called to several colleges to break up rallies have been seen around the world, recalling the protest movement that erupted during the Vietnam War.
At Virginia Tech, more than 90 people were arrested late Sunday after refusing a campus police order to disperse, while at the University of Texas, state troopers in riot gear clashed Monday with protesters who tried to break up an unauthorized encampment on campus to make.
“No encampments will be allowed,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on social media.
“Instead, arrests are being made,” he added.
– Conversations fail –
Minouche Shafik, president of Columbia University, said in her statement announcing the talks had broken off that “many of our Jewish students, as well as other students, have found the atmosphere intolerable in recent weeks.
“Many have left campus, and that is a tragedy.”
“Anti-Semitic language and actions are unacceptable and calls for violence are simply abhorrent,” she said.
Protest organizers deny accusations of anti-Semitism and say their actions target the Israeli government and its prosecution of the Gaza conflict.
They also claim that some incidents were engineered by non-student agitators.
As the school year comes to an end, administrators are also highlighting the need to maintain order on campus for exam studies.
“One group's rights to express their opinions should not come at the expense of another group's right to speak, teach and learn,” Shafik said.
One graduate student protester, who asked to be identified only as “Z,” said, “It's finals week, everyone is still working on their finals, I still have finals to do.”
“But at the end of the day, school is temporary,” the protester told AFP.
President Joe Biden's White House has also tried to walk a fine line in defending the right to protest while condemning reported anti-Semitism.
“We understand that this is a painful moment that Americans are facing, and that free speech must occur within the law,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.
However, Biden's Republican opponents have seized on the issue, labeling the protests as anti-Semitic and threatening to withdraw federal funding if they are not stopped.
“What continues to occur in Columbia is an absolute shame. The campus is overrun with anti-Semitic students and faculty,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday on X, reiterating his call for Shafik to resign.
The Gaza war began when Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, killing around 1,170 people, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Palestinian militants also took about 250 people hostage. Israel estimates that 129 people remain in Gaza, including 34 who the army says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 34,500 people, mostly women and children, according to Israel's Health Ministry.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)