New York:
There was a heavy police presence at Columbia University on Tuesday, raising fears of a clash with student demonstrators, as administrators struggle to contain pro-Palestinian demonstrations on dozens of campuses across the United States.
The demonstrations – the most sweeping and prolonged unrest on American college campuses since the protests against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s – have led to hundreds of arrests of students and other activists.
Many of them have vowed to continue their actions despite suspensions and threats of deportation.
On Tuesday evening, the campus in the heart of New York City, normally open to passersby, was locked down and police set up barricades, an AFP journalist saw.
Students had previously pledged to fight any eviction from Hamilton Hall, where protesters barricaded themselves before dawn.
“We will stay here and learn from the lessons of our people (in Gaza) who remain and hold out even under the worst conditions,” a protester wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh headscarf, who declined to give her name, told reporters outside. the hall.
As she spoke, protesters could be seen using ropes to hoist crates of supplies to the second floor of the building, apparently signaling that students were hunkering down.
President Joe Biden's White House sharply criticized the seizure of Hamilton Hall, with a spokesperson saying it was “absolutely the wrong approach” as police patrolled the street entrances to the prestigious New York University.
“That is not an example of peaceful protest,” the spokesperson added.
Protests against Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, with the 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.
The unrest has spread like wildfire through America's higher education institutions, with many student protesters setting up tent camps on campuses from coast to coast.
In Columbia, protesters vowed to stay until their demands were met, including that the school divest from all financial interests linked to Israel.
The university rejected the demand, with President Minouche Shafik saying talks with students had failed.
“Students occupying the building face eviction,” Columbia's Office of Public Affairs said in a statement, adding that the protesters were “given the opportunity to leave peacefully” but instead refused and the situation escalated.
The university outlined in a press update on Tuesday that the number of people in the encampments and Hamilton Hall is “in the dozens,” while nearly 37,000 people are attending Columbia.
A national movement
In one of the latest clashes, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, police moved Tuesday to clear one encampment, detaining some protesters in a tense standoff.
Meanwhile, at Cal Poly Humboldt in Northern California, a weeklong occupation ended in dramatic fashion early Tuesday as police moved in to arrest nearly three dozen protesters who had seized buildings and forced the closure of the campus.
In Oregon, Portland State University's campus was closed Tuesday “due to an ongoing incident” at the library, university authorities said, after local media reported that about 50 protesters broke into the building a day earlier.
And Brown University reached an agreement in which student protesters will remove their encampment in exchange for the institution voting on divesting from Israel — a major concession from an elite American university during the protests.
Images of police in riot gear called to various colleges have been seen around the world.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk expressed concern over the heavy-handed steps taken to disperse protests on campus, saying that “freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly are fundamental to society.”
He added that “incitement to violence or hatred based on identity or views – real or perceived – must be strongly rejected.”
Shafik said many Jewish students had fled Columbia's campus out of fear. “Anti-Semitic language and actions are unacceptable,” she said.
Protest organizers deny accusations of anti-Semitism and say their actions are against the Israeli government.
The Columbia student group insisted their protest was peaceful and warned authorities of a crackdown similar to the one that marred the anti-Vietnam War movement.
The Gaza war began when Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, killing around 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,535 people in Gaza, 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.)