By The opinion
Apr 26, 2024, 01:08 AM EDT
Mass arrests, outrage and unrest spread across U.S. college campuses on Thursday, with authorities cracking down even by force, a growing number of pro-Palestinian student demonstrations.
The protests have spread to more than 40 universitiesaccording to NBC News, which mentioned that they have also registered at universities in Canada.
Students from Emory University, Northwestern University, Cornell University, George Washington University, Princeton University and the City College of New York set up solidarity camps Thursday morning, lhe latest to join a rapidly growing list of prestigious institutionsaccording to NPR.
The students are calling for an end to the war between Israel and Hamas and for their universities to invest in companies that profit from it or, more broadly, do business with Israel.
Dozens of protesters have been arrested since Wednesday night, including at Southern University of California (USC), the University of Texas at Austin and Emerson College in Boston.
The fallout from protests in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and against the war between Israel and Hamas grew Thursday when USC announced it would cancel its commencement ceremony on the main stage for security reasons, after more than a week of controversy national over its decision to withdraw the position of the pro-Palestinian Muslim student, who was to be the keynote speaker at the May event that was expected to draw 65,000 attendees.
At Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, the campus remained closed and classes were scheduled onlinewith pro-Palestinian students occupying several buildings since Monday night, according to the Los Angeles Times, which reported that also at the University of California at Berkeleyat least 50 tents remained erected next to Sproul Hall, the historic home of the campus free speech movement.
At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), A camp was established Thursday morning that grew to hundreds of people. By the afternoon, the situation had become tense as pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with combative counter-protesters carrying Israeli flags and attempted to breach the closed confines of the camp.
Dozens of protesters have been arrested since Wednesday night, including at the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin and Emerson College.
As more arrests were made at Emory University and Princeton University Thursday morning, Some charges against detainees in other places were dismissed and they were releasedaccording to reports from the authorities.
Keep reading:
– Protests increase at US universities over civilian deaths in Gaza
– The shocking images of clashes between students and police in protests over Gaza at US universities.
– USC canceled its graduation ceremony due to pro-Palestinian student protests