The pro-Palestinian protests on US university campuses and the crackdown on demonstrators continue.

On Monday, protesters and police clashed at the University of Texas. At least 40 protesters were arrested on charges of ‘trespassing’ and ‘disorderly behaviour’ during the police assault on the Austin campus.

Some of those arrested were dragged away by riot police.

Another group of protesters surrounded the police and arrest vehicles, and law enforcement officers used tear gas and sound bombs to disperse the crowd.

The university issued a statement late on Monday claiming that many of the protesters were not affiliated with the school and that camping on campus was prohibited. The school also claimed that some protesters were ‘physically and verbally fighting’ with university staff and that the authorities had called in the police.

Building occupied during Vietnam War protests reoccupied

The protests in Texas and on other campuses were inspired by demonstrations that began and continued at Columbia University. On Monday, students at Columbia’s Manhattan campus protested a 2pm deadline to leave an encampment of about 120 tents.

Officials said that if the protesters left by the deadline and signed a form pledging to abide by university policies until June 2025, they could finish the semester ‘in good standing’; otherwise, they would be suspended pending further investigation.

In response, hundreds of protesters continued to march in the courtyard. A group of counter-demonstrators waved Israeli flags and one carried a banner that read “Where are the anti-Hamas slogans?

Columbia University later announced that protesters had occupied Hamilton Hall early on Tuesday. The building was occupied by demonstrators in 1968 during anti-Vietnam War protests.

Eyewitnesses said a large group of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the hall, while a smaller group moved inside and barricaded themselves with tables, chairs and vending machines. Video showed demonstrators using hammers to smash windows and then locking the doors from the inside as more protesters cheered them on from outside.

In a public safety alert issued overnight, the university asked students and staff to stay away from the Morningside campus on Tuesday.

“We demand that Columbia divest all of its financial resources, including endowments, from companies and institutions that profit from Israel’s apartheid, genocide and occupation of Palestine. … We will not rest until every one of our demands is met, until every inch of Palestine is free,” a protester told the crowd outside the building.

Protesters unfurled a large banner reading ‘Free Palestine’ from the window of Hamilton Hall. The protesters renamed Hamilton Hall ‘Hind’s Hall’ after the murdered 6-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab.

Columbia’s Shafik to testify before Congress

Meanwhile, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik will travel to Washington, D.C. this week to testify before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. This committee has previously held hearings on ‘anti-Semitism’ and forced the presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania to resign.

Wednesday’s hearing is entitled ‘Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University’s Response to Anti-Semitism’. On the other hand, the university administration, led by Shafik, has been busy suppressing pro-Palestinian discourse for some time.

Since the 7 October Aqsa Flood operation, the university has suspended student groups that advocate for Palestine, created an ‘anti-Semitism task force’ that students and faculty fear will be used to punish criticism of Israel, and dragged its feet in investigating reports that students were sprayed with chemicals during a campus rally for Gaza.

Earlier this month, Columbia suspended and expelled four students for organising an unauthorised event on Palestine. The university’s action against students organising the ‘Resistance 101’ event, which included supporters of 7 October, was supported by ‘a company run by experienced former law enforcement investigators’.

Within 10 days of the 24 March event, the suspended students were evicted from campus housing and denied access to university buildings, dining halls and health services.

Settlement reached at Northwestern University

As clashes continued at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale and other universities, students refused to dismantle their encampments, while at Virginia Commonwealth University riot police attempted to break up an encampment late on Monday, clashing with protesters, using pepper spray and detaining students in plastic handcuffs.

Northwestern University said it had reached an agreement with students and faculty representing the majority of protesters on its campus north of Chicago.

The agreement allows peaceful demonstrations until the end of spring classes on 1 June in exchange for the removal of all but one of the charity tents and the restriction of the demonstration area to students, faculty and staff unless otherwise approved by the university.

A group of domestic and international lawyers, including at least 20 lawyers working in the Biden administration, will call on President Joe Biden to cut off military aid to Israel, arguing that its actions in Gaza are inconsistent with US and international humanitarian law.

The lawyers plan to send a letter in the coming days to US Attorney General Merrick Garland and the administration’s General Counsel outlining their case.

In the letter, seen by POLITICO, the lawyers argue that Israel may have violated US laws such as the Arms Export Control Act and the Leahy Laws, as well as the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit disproportionate attacks on civilian populations.

The group drafting the letter includes current lawyers from the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department. While the letter is still circulating for signatures, more than 90 lawyers have so far signed the letter, including lawyers from the Departments of Justice, Labour, and Energy, the European Commission, and the private sector.

According to POLITICO, the letter is the latest sign of dissent within the White House over Israel policy.

Over the weekend, Reuters reported that several senior US officials said in an internal memo to Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they doubted the reliability of Israeli assurances that US-supplied weapons would be used in accordance with international law.

In February, more than 800 officials in the US and abroad signed an open letter opposing their government’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

Advocates argue that officials have a duty to provide advice free of “inappropriate political manipulation”, citing as examples of violations the indiscriminate bombing of the besieged territory with high civilian casualties, attacks on aid convoys, and the shelling of schools and hospitals.

“The law is clear and consistent with the majority of Americans who believe that the United States should halt arms sales to Israel until it stops its military operation in Gaza,” the letter said, citing polls showing that most Biden supporters want an arms embargo.

The letter also calls on the Justice Department to investigate whether any US citizens serving in the Israeli military have committed war crimes that could be prosecuted under US law.

A Justice Department official who signed the letter said, ‘This is a moment when the US government has violated its own laws and policies. The administration may see silence or a handful of resignations, but they really don’t realise the extent of grassroots discontent and opposition,” said the Justice Department official who signed the letter.

Protests by university students in the US demanding an end to ties with Israel and for university administrations to pressure the federal government to end the war are spreading, and police attacks are intensifying.

The protesters say they will not disperse until schools commit to completely withdrawing funding from organisations with ties to Israel.

They are also calling for the withdrawal of funds from companies that sell weapons, construction equipment, technology services and other items to Israel from their campuses.

Professors arrested in Atlanta

Yesterday, as the world watched, police attacked a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Emory University in Atlanta and arrested dozens of people, including economics professor Caroline Fohlin and philosophy department chair Noëlle McAfee.

Professor Fohlin was heard in dialogue with police expressing concern about the police’s violent arrests and use of force.

On the university campus, police were seen forcing protesters to the ground and handcuffing them during events that followed the establishment of a camp in the university courtyard on Thursday morning.

Law enforcement officers used tear gas to disperse protesters from the area, according to a CNN crew at the scene. They also used pepper spray against the crowd that had gathered around the demonstrators who had been arrested by police.
The Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the use of force by police against demonstrators and the arrests at Emory University on Thursday.

“Emory University and the APD [Atlanta Police Department] bear full responsibility for the violence we are currently witnessing on the Emory campus. Students and protesters must be afforded all of their constitutional rights,” it said.

Dozens of protesters were also arrested at the University of Texas on Wednesday following a police assault. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas warned that state and university officials are using law enforcement to “violently censor” pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of Texas and other campuses across the country.

“The First Amendment guarantees the right of people to protest in Texas and across the country, including in defence of Palestinians,” the group said in a statement.On the other hand, the local district attorney’s office announced that the cases of 46 detainees had been dropped.

Protests spread to Washington

At Georgetown University in Washington DC, a crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside Healy Hall, the main administration building on campus.

The crowd then marched, led by several professors in graduation regalia, to a tent camp at George Washington University (GW).At the GW encampment, dozens of tents filled about a quarter of the campus.Chanting “There is only one solution, intifada intifada, long live the intifada,” the demonstrators carried banners reading “Resistance is justified when people are occupied,” “Stop the occupation,” and “Ceasefire now.

What happened where?

According to CNN’s list, here’s what happened at pro-Palestinian protests so far:

University of Southern California (USC): USC cancelled its main commencement ceremony for the Class of 2024 in May, citing ‘new security measures’.

Emory University: At least two professors were arrested during campus protests. The Georgia chapter of CAIR condemned the arrests, and the Georgia NAACP called for a meeting with the university president.

Vice President for Public Safety Cheryl Elliott said 28 people were arrested during a protest at the school, including 20 members of the Emory community.

The Georgia State Patrol said troopers on horseback used pepper spray during the protest ‘to control the unruly crowd’. A group of Democratic Georgia state lawmakers condemned the ‘excessive use of force’ by the Georgia State Patrol during the Emory arrests.

Northeastern University: A camp was set up where dozens of protesters formed a human chain around tents.

City College of New York: The New York Police Department (NYPD) said it no longer planned to clear the encampment on Thursday afternoon.

George Washington University: Organisers and the university confirmed that pro-Palestinian protesters, representing students from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, had set up an encampment on campus.

University President Ellen M. Granberg said the DC Metropolitan Police had been asked to help move an ‘unauthorised protest camp’ on campus. Granberg said the decision was made ‘after numerous orders from the GWPD to move to an alternative demonstration site on campus were ignored by camp participants.

Emerson College: More than 100 people were arrested and four police officers were injured during a pro-Palestinian protest at Emerson College in Boston on Wednesday, according to the Boston Police Department.President Jay Bernhardt said he recognised and respected the ‘civic activism and passion that sparked the protest’ after dozens were arrested.

Columbia University: House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Columbia’s chancellor to resign if he failed to bring order to the campus. Negotiations between protesters and Columbia officials to clear the encampment were extended for another 48 hours early Wednesday morning. According to the New York Times, the Faculty Senate is expected to vote on Friday on a resolution admonishing the school’s chancellor, Minouche Shafik, for some of her decisions. Shafik has come under fire for authorising police to quell student protests on campus.

University of Southern California: Police arrested about 100 protesters at the University of Southern California after being ordered to disperse.

The university cancelled next month’s main graduation ceremony, citing ‘new security measures’.

University of Texas at Austin: After tense resistance, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced that law enforcement made 57 arrests on campus.

“We do not classify arrestees based on whether or not they are students at the university,” Travis County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kristen Dark told CNN.

Cal Poly Humboldt: The California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt campus will remain closed over the weekend as protesters, including “unidentified non-students,” continue to occupy two buildings, school officials said.

Brown University: The university has identified about 130 students who it says violated the school’s code of conduct, which prohibits camping on campus. The university said students found responsible would be disciplined depending on their conduct and other factors, including previous conduct violations.

Indiana University: At least 33 people were arrested on campus on Thursday following protests on campus.University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA):A “camp demonstration” was held at UCLA on Thursday.

Northeastern University: Dozens of protesters were seen forming a human chain around several tents at Northeastern University in Boston.

Ohio State University: Protesters at Ohio State University were arrested on Thursday night after refusing to disperse, according to university spokesman Benjamin Johnson.

White House throws ball to governors on National Guard

The White House has rejected a request from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson for President Biden to call out the National Guard on college campuses.White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Thursday that the issue was not up to the president.

“This is a matter for the governors to decide,” Jean-Pierre told reporters, noting that Biden had previously criticised the protests as anti-Semitic.

Johnson called the protests “dangerous” in a statement on Wednesday. “If this situation is not brought under control quickly and this threat and intimidation is not stopped, it will be an opportune time for the National Guard,” the House speaker said.

Republican calls against protests hardenPennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick lashed out at campus protests in Pennsylvania and across the country at a rally on Thursday night.

McCormick said: “We’re in moral trouble. The same thing happened at Penn today.Can you believe these kids are marching on our college campuses across the country? Honestly, can you believe it?” he asked.The Republican candidate called the demonstrations ‘anti-American’ and said universities that ‘condone this kind of behaviour’ should not receive federal research funding or be eligible for tax-exempt status for their endowments.

The Republican politician described the protesters’ behaviour as ‘anti-Semitic’ and ‘bordering on violence’ and said law enforcement should ‘clean up the camps’.Senators, including Republican heavyweight Mitch McConnell, argued that the demonstrations should be broken up by force.

Senate Minority Leader McConnell and his deputy John Thune wrote to US Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, describing the protesters as “anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist gangs”.

“The Department of Education and federal law enforcement agencies should take immediate action to restore order, prosecute gangs who continue the violence and threats against Jewish students, revoke the visas of any foreign nationals (such as exchange students) who promote terrorism, and hold school administrators accountable for standing by instead of protecting their students,” said the letter signed by 25 Republican senators.

Governor Greg Abbott, who led state troopers into the University of Texas, also said the protesters “belong in jail”.Former US President Donald Trump also condemned the demonstrations on Wednesday, comparing the anti-war protesters to the “white supremacists” who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, during the first year of his presidency: “Charlottesville is peanuts compared to the riots and anti-Israel protests taking place all over our country.”