In the US, pro-Palestinian protesters briefly occupied the lobby of the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan on Tuesday night, nearly two weeks after a massive police crackdown at the City College of New York (CUNY) and other campuses.
Students demonstrated for several hours in the lobby, hanging banners and calling the centre’s library the “Aqsa University Library”.
Aqsa University, the oldest public university in Gaza, was demolished during the Israeli occupation.
Outside the Graduate Centre, a group of protesters waved Palestinian flags in the rain in support of their friends. Dozens of police lined the street outside the building, but did not enter.
Students participating in the demonstration called on the administration to negotiate divestment from “Israeli arms, technology and surveillance companies”.
At 10.30 p.m. US time, the students emerged from the Graduate Centre and declared victory, telling protesters on the street that after negotiations, the CUNY administration had agreed to take their demands to the entire student body.
The protesters then evacuated the library and staff immediately began cleaning it.
