United States of America Paraphrased: America's Unified States - Photos Capture Palestine Protests by College Students
After the increase in pro-Palestinian protesting at Columbia University, a sizable group of New York police officers took over a building that housed university students. As reported by a dpa journalist present at the scene, this happened on Tuesday night in the north of Manhattan. The mayor, Eric Adams, mentioned a total of around 300 arrests at Columbia University and City College within the city.
Simultaneously, reports of riots came from Los Angeles on the west coast. Media in the US described clashes between two different protest groups at a UCLA camp. The Los Angeles Times mentioned that there were both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protesters present. The police intervened after midnight, but the heated situation at the campus remained.
CNN broadcasted videos that depicted counter-demonstrators trying to tear down wooden barricades preserving the camp and attempting to enter the tent community. The protesters camped at the camp fought back and utilized pepper spray. Objects like fireworks were also thrown. Multiple individuals required medical attention.
Demonstrators Demand Pulverization of Israel Ties
Students at universities throughout the nation are condemning Israel's actions in the Gaza battle while expressing solidarity with the Palestinians. At Columbia University, they are requesting that the university's financial partnerships with Israel be severed. The university board of directors turned down this suggestion - and then requested the support of the police after hooded individuals clad in black and white Palestinian scarves smashed windows, stormed Hamilton Hall, and barricaded the building's entrance with chairs and tables on Tuesday night.
In the following police operation, many tents in the so-called solidarity camp on the property were searched. Footage indicated that the demonstrators continued to work against police advances with human chains, but were either pushed aside or torn apart. The tent camp was eventually dismantled. Mayor Adams held agitators outside the student body responsible for escalating the protests.
In other US cities, universities have experienced student occupations as well. At Brown University in Providence (Rhode Island), demonstrators reached an agreement: they dismantled their tent camp in exchange for a vote on the university's financial connections with Israel.
Escalating Demonstrations in New York
It was the second significant operation on the Columbia campus, with the New York police previously intervening against the students at the request of university management almost two weeks ago. Students felt that their right to freedom of expression was being restricted and lambasted the security forces' actions as disproportionate. This prompted protests and tent camps to be assembled at numerous universities in the United States.
Critics particularly target the radical faction of the protest movement, claiming their actions constitute anti-Semitism and dismissal of Hamas - the Islamist organization that denies Israel's legitimacy and caused the Gaza war on October 7 by a massive massacre.
The violent takeover of Hamilton Hall once more attracted criticism of the students. Columbia University emphasized that "the work of the university cannot constantly be disrupted by protesters who violate the rules. If this persists, there will be noticeable consequences." The US government also decried the students' actions: "This is not an exemplary manner of peaceful protest," explained the National Security Council's communications director, John Kirby.
Suspensions of Students Declared
On Monday, the university administration had stated that students would be suspended if they did not leave the protest camp on the university property by the afternoon. However, the opposite occurred: protesters occupied Hamilton Hall, which had already been taken over in 1968 during a protest against the Vietnam War.
Since the pro-Palestinian student protests started in April, more than 1000 demonstrators have been arrested across America. On Tuesday, it wasn't just New York and California; police also intervened in other states like Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, and Florida.
Hamas and other Islamist groups took the lives of approximately 1200 people and took over 250 hostages during their attack against Israel on October 7 the previous year. Israel reacted with a ground offensive and air strikes in the coastal region. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority (difficult to confirm independently), around 34,500 people have been killed since the conflict began.
Read also:
Source: www.stern.de
