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Student protests at American universities continue for the tenth day in a row against the Israeli occupation, due to its aggression against the Gaza Strip that has been ongoing for more than 6 months, while the universities of North Carolina and Arizona joined the movement.

The first spark of these protests erupted from Columbia University, when students supporting the Palestinian cause began a sit-in in the campus garden, protesting against their university’s investments in companies that support the Israeli occupation and the genocide committed by its forces in Gaza.

The arrest of 108 student protesters by the New York Police sparked protests at other leading universities in the United States, after which the scope of protest activities expanded day after day.

While some university administrations resorted to negotiating with the protesters, others chose to request support from the security forces to suppress the protests.

Emory University in Georgia witnessed the arrest of 20 students, and police officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets, according to local sources.

At the same university, security forces arrested the head of the Philosophy Department, Noelle McAfee, and the professor of economics, Carolyn Fohlin, after they participated in a demonstration calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to American support for Israel.

Activists on social media platforms posted scenes showing academics being subjected to violence by police officers.

Arrests in Ohio and California.

At Ohio State University, security forces broke up a student demonstration in solidarity with Palestine, using violence towards the demonstrators.

Scenes circulating on social media platforms showed the presence of snipers on the roofs of buildings inside the university campus, whose administration announced that they were people from the state security directorate.

The University of Southern California announced the cancellation of the main graduation ceremony this year, after canceling the graduation speech that was to be delivered by Asna Tabassum, the Muslim student who was chosen to deliver the outstanding students’ speech at the 2024 graduation ceremony. The

university itself witnessed the arrest of 93 students during the “Support Gaza” demonstrations.

Student protests in the United States, against the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, extended to the universities of North Carolina and Arizona.

American media reported that new camps were set up at the universities of North Carolina and Arizona, amid continuing student protests demanding higher education institutions to condemn the war on Gaza and withdraw their investments from Israeli companies.

Police use violence against students.

Georgetown University in Washington also witnessed a demonstration in support of Palestine, in which hundreds of students participated by chanting slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “Immediately cease fire in Gaza.”

The protests expanded to include Indiana University as well. Security forces intervened to disperse the students protesting inside tents on the university campus, used violence against them, and arrested 33 of them on charges of “violating university policies.”

At the University of Connecticut, about 300 students participated in a demonstration in support of Palestine, while security forces removed the tents they had set up and arrested at least one student.

In Pennsylvania, students left their classrooms to participate in a march in the heart of the city in solidarity with Palestine.

Princeton University students also set up a camp “in solidarity with Gaza,” and the university announced that this step “contradicts university rules,” after which the police arrested two graduate students who participated in the demonstration.

In a related context, protests in support of Palestine have been continuing at California Polytechnic University since April 22, despite the intervention of security forces.

Meanwhile, members of the faculty called on the university president to resign against the backof his call for security forces to disperse and expel the student demonstrators.

New pressures

The president of Columbia University faced new pressures on Friday, as the university's supervisory committee convened to discuss her attempt to suppress protests that rocked the university two weeks ago and spread throughout the country and beyond.

A large number of students, faculty members, and observers criticized Nemat Minouche Shafik for summoning the New York Police to the campus on April 18 to end a sit-in in tents set up by demonstrators in protest against the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

Police arrested more than 100 people that day and removed tents from the main lawn of the university's Manhattan campus, but demonstrators quickly returned and set up tents again.

Since then, authorities have arrested hundreds of demonstrators at several American universities where students set up tent sit-ins similar to those at Columbia University, demanding that universities stop investing in companies linked to the Israeli military.

Columbia's senior council will hold a hearing later today to vote on a decision regarding the university president's actions, which could range from expressions of displeasure to outright reprimands.

The White House has defended freedom of expression on campuses, but President Joe Biden denounced "anti-Semitic protests" this week and stressed that campuses must be safe.

Reuters