Mass Arrests as Anti-Gaza War Protests Spread Across US Universities
Protests against the war in Gaza have spread from Columbia and Yale to other us universities as officials scramble to defuse demonstrations.
On Monday night, police moved to break up a protest at New York University and made a number of arrests.
Dozens of students were arrested at yale earlier in the day, while Columbia cancelled in-person classes.
Protest encampments have also been established at the University of California at Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Michigan, Emerson College and Tufts.
Demonstrations and heated debates about the Israel-Gaza war and free speech have rocked us campuses since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, which prompted Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
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Rallies have spread since then. In addition to NYU and Yale, encampments have been set up at the University of California at Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Michigan, Emerson College and Tufts.
Like their peers, the NYU protesters are calling on their institution to disclose and divest its finances and endowments from weapons manufacturers and companies with an interest in the Israeli occupation.
One student, Alejandro Tanon told the AFP news agency that the US was at a critical moment, likening the protests to historic demonstrations over the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa.
We stand with Palestine and we stand with the liberation of all people, one protester told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
Meanwhile, another who stood across the street with an Israeli flag said: There’s one side here and one side of history. This is the right side here.
