Protests against the ongoing war in Gaza have spread from Columbia and Yale campuses to other US universities. Police arrested several people on Monday (April 22) night to disperse the ongoing protest at New York University. British media reported the news.
The Israel-Gaza war and freedom of speech have been a major topic of discussion and debate in US universities since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. This encouraged the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Then, when Israel began attacking Gaza, universities became the center of student protests on both sides.
At US universities, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli students have been accusing each other of fueling anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
The ongoing protests on US campuses drew global attention last week when New York City police arrested more than a hundred protesting students on the Columbia University campus. As part of the protest, the students staged a sit-in program by pitching tents on the campus. After the arrest by the police, the authorities expelled the arrested students from the university.
Hundreds of Columbia University teachers staged a mass walkout on Monday to protest the arrest of protesting students from their campus. Besides, the authorities announced on Monday that all the classes of the university will be conducted virtually.
Meanwhile, demonstrations in support of Palestine are underway at important educational institutions in the United States, including the University of California at Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Michigan and Emerson College. But from many American politicians to Jewish-based organizations on various campuses, various media are claiming this ongoing protest as an anti-Semitic movement.
