(CNN) — Pro-Palestinian protests have broken out on college campuses across the United States, and school administrators are trying—and largely failing—to calm the situation.
Tensions on American college campuses have risen since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, in which militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory attack on Gaza has killed more than 34,000 people, according to its Health Ministry.
Since October 7, reports of anti-Semitic acts have multiplied in the United States and, in particular, on university campuses. Islamophobia has also proliferated. The recent surge in protests has exacerbated those tensions, forcing leaders to decide when free speech on campus crosses the line and becomes a threat.
Several schools have called the police to deal with protesters, which has led to the arrest of hundreds of people on several campuses.
When did the current conflict begin?
The situation escalated last week at Columbia University when the institution’s president, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, testified before a House committee about the university’s response to allegations of anti-Semitism on campus. At the same time, a pro-Palestinian protest began on campus.
Following his testimony, Shafik requested in a letter made public by the university that the New York City Police Department remove people who were camping on the south lawn of the campus and who were “violating the university’s rules and policies.” and they were invading the campus. More than 100 people were arrested, according to security forces.
The camps were organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a student coalition of more than 100 organizations, including Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, to protest what they describe as the “continued financial investment of university in companies that benefit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and the military occupation of Palestine,” they said in a press release.
Where else is it happening?
Since last Thursday, other university campuses have faced similar protests and encampments, as well as arrests.
Pro-Palestinian camps were set up at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Emerson College, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Michigan, and the University of California at Berkeley. On Wednesday, police detained nearly 100 protesters at the University of Southern California following a dispersal order.
Yale University Police detained at least 45 protesters on Monday and charged them with trespassing after they refused to leave, although dozens of protesters remained there Tuesday morning.
Harvard University closed Harvard Yard and school officials suspended a pro-Palestinian student organization for allegedly violating school policies.
Meanwhile, nine people were arrested Tuesday on the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota after forming a camp contrary to the center’s policy.
Students, faculty and staff at the University of New Mexico peacefully protested Monday in support of Gaza, the university said in a statement Tuesday.
More than 100 people were arrested Wednesday at Emerson College in Boston during a pro-Palestinian protest, according to the Boston Police Department.
Protesters and Texas state troopers clash during a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday. (Photo: Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
What do they ask?
Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia said they will not disperse until the university agrees to cut ties with Israeli academic institutions and commit to a “complete divestment” of its funds from Israel-related entities, among other demands.
Protesters on other campuses are making similar demands, calling on campuses to divest from companies that sell weapons, construction equipment, technology services and other items to Israel.
Columbia officials warned earlier this week that the camp violates school rules, but did not provide specific disciplinary consequences. Officials also rejected protesters’ claims that the school threatened to bring in the National Guard to help deal with the pro-Palestinian protest encampment.
Jewish reaction
Passover, a major Jewish holiday, began this week, raising fears among some Jewish students who had heard anti-Semitic comments at some of the protests. The atmosphere was so charged that Columbia officials announced that students would be able to attend classes and even take exams virtually starting Monday.
Underscoring concerns for student safety, Rabbi Elie Buechler, associate rabbi with the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at Columbia University, sent a WhatsApp message to a group of about 300 students, in mostly Orthodox Jews, “strongly” recommending that they return home and stay there.
Buechler wrote that recent events at the university “have made clear that Columbia University Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee the safety of Jewish students.”
Throughout Passover, there will be a police presence at the Kraft Center, a Jewish cultural center shared by Columbia and Barnard, and campus public security will provide foot escorts to and from the building starting Monday, according to an email from Brian Cohen , executive director of the center.
Chabad, a Jewish organization at the University, said on Facebook that they have hired additional security to protect students during Passover. They said they were “horrified by what we witnessed last night on and near the Columbia campus” but were still planning to host Easter celebrations on campus.
A group of Jewish and non-Jewish students gathered at the camp to celebrate the Passover Seder on Monday night. Cameron Jones, a Columbia student, told CNN: “I’m Jewish, and to me, Passover symbolizes perseverance and resilience. I think this camp represents those two ideals because we’ve seen the university take countless steps to try to stifle our activism.” student, and here we are persevering despite it.
What do political leaders say?
On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson called on the president of Columbia University to resign during a tense news conference in which the crowd repeatedly interrupted the speaker and at times loudly booed him. and other GOP lawmakers who were with him as they stood at microphones on the Columbia campus.
“We cannot allow this type of hate and anti-Semitism to flourish on our campuses, and it must be stopped in its tracks. Those who perpetrate this violence must be stopped. I am here today joining my colleagues and calling on President Shafik to resign if she cannot put a stop to it. order immediately in this chaos,” Johnson declared.
He was joined by New York Reps. Mike Lawler, Nicole Malliotakis and other members of the New York Republican Party delegation.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1782943713053790629 the way administrators like Shafik have handled the matter on behalf of student protesters. His comment came a day after a fellow New York Democrat, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, accused Columbia of bowing to the “https://twitter.com/JamaalBowmanNY/status/1782524543875031103“.
Earlier this week, a spokesperson for President Joe Biden said he was “of course aware” of the pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked college campuses across the country.
The US Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, https://twitter.com/SecCardona/status/1782765202200518915 that he is “deeply concerned” about incidents of anti-Semitism at Columbia University and noted a Civil Rights investigation previously opened at the university for violations related to anti-Semitic harassment.
What will happen to Shafik?
National political leaders, including President Johnson, increased pressure for Shafik to resign.
Shafik is an Egyptian-born academic and economic policy expert who has chaired the Ivy League university since July 2023. Shafik’s family fled Egypt in the 1960s, when the country was in the midst of political and economic turmoil. according to Columbia, and was previously president of the London School of Economics and Political Science. She grew up in the southern United States.
The Columbia University Board of Trustees issued a statement Wednesday expressing its strong support for President Shafik. The board said it is “urgently working” with her to resolve the unrest on campus and “rebuild the ties of our community.”
Growing unrest on college campuses, along with a rise in anti-Semitism, has led to numerous congressional hearings and, at least in part, the resignation of two Ivy League presidents: Claudine Gay at Harvard University and Liz Magill at the University of Pennsylvania.
