A graduation ceremony of the University of Michigan was interrupted this Saturday by a manifestation in favor of the palestinian cause. In total, a group of about 50 subjects dressed with traditional arabic kufiya On their togas, they entered the rows of students in black, blue and yellow and chanted their slogans.
“Expose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest”was one of the phrases that was chanted the most along with messages like “There are no more universities in Gaza” which they captured on posters and flags.
The incident, which fortunately did not escalate, was resolved without any arrest and did not generate serious interference with the almost two-hour event, which was held at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, in the presence of tens of thousands of people. Unlike other episodes this week, which did require the intervention of security forces, in this case, the Secretary of the United States Navy, Carlos Del Toro, made some pauses during his speech and, eventually, asked the public “ redirect your attention to the podium.”
This was because, as the official explained, The University “will protect the freedoms we value so much”, which includes “the right to peacefully protest.” As a result of this position, during the week the university campus was one of the venues for a pro-Palestine camp which, however, was intervened by the Police on Friday after a significant concentration occurred.
As happened in Michigan, other important educational establishments in the country experienced these days serious incidents with protesters who broke into their campuses to extend their solidarity to the people of Palestine, in the midst of Israel’s aggression, and demand that academic authorities take action against the Jewish State.
This Saturday, at Tufts Universitynear Boston, protesters were forced to dismantle their camp, as happened in Medford, Massachusetts, where the organizers understood that they would not be able to reach a consensus with the leadership after failed negotiations. “We are deeply angry and disappointed,” they said in a statement.
Instead, several people chose to start “solidarity fasts” of 24 hours duration or, even, of indeterminate duration, as is the case of a group of students from the Princeton UniversityIn New York.
The day before, 18 young people recorded a video in which they announced the start of a hunger strike why they are only consuming water.
“The University and the world must see that we refuse to be complicit in genocide and we will take all necessary measures to change this reality. We refuse to be silenced by the intimidation and repression tactics of the University Administration. We will fight together in solidarity with the people of Palestine, we commit our bodies to their liberation,” they maintained before demanding that the directors meet, discuss their demands, reverse the actions taken on campus and ensure complete amnesty to the participants of the actions. .
Likewise, during the week, the New York Universitythat of Columbia and of California -among others- they experienced moments of violence, with clashes with police that left, at least, some 2,500 detaineesaccording to a count of The New York Times.
(With information from AP)
