Authorities at top American universities are struggling to contain the fallout of the Gaza war on the nation’s campuses as pro-Palestinian student protesters, pro-Israeli student protesters, campus administration and police clashed with each other.
In-person classes were cancelled and several demonstrators were arrested. Even Republicans and Democrats have also used the issue and took sides as law enforcement struggled to bring order across several universities. Some Republicans, like Elise Stefanik, have called for the administration of these universities to take steps and demanded that Columbia University President Nemat Shafik step down.
The protests are also converging with the Passover festival, an important event among followers of Judaism.
Major Ivy league colleges have come to a standstill due to the protests. Yale, MIT, Harvard, Columbia were among universities where tensions remain high. The protests began with demonstrators establishing a so-called “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on school grounds in Columbia University campus. The gates to Harvard Yard were closed to the public Monday.
While the pro-Palestinian student protesters are demanding that the US President Joe Biden and his administration take definitive steps to stop the war in Gaza and divest away from Israel and demand ceasefire, Israeli and Jewish students are claiming that some protesting groups are using intimidation and anti-Semitism as tools of harassment towards them.
Columbia University President Nemat Shafik called for a “reset” in an open letter to the school community.
“Over the past days, there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behaviour on our campus. Anti-Semitic language, like any other language that is used to hurt and frighten people, is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken,” she said.
“To de-escalate the rancour and give us all a chance to consider next steps, I am announcing that all classes will be held virtually on Monday,” she added.
Later the university authorities said that classes will be held online or in hybrid mode until the spring semester ends.
“Safety is our highest priority as we strive to support our students’ learning and all the required academic operations,” the university said in an announcement Monday night.
A report by the New York Post said the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested dozens of student and faculty protesters at New York University Monday night dressed in riot gear.
The professors were arrested first as they formed a human barrier preventing the NYPD cops from arresting the students who were not dispersing and removing the camps erected under the so-called “Gaza Solidarity” encampment at the private university’s Gould Plaza.
The protests have reached to such an extent that the US President had to weigh in. “I condemn the antisemitic protests,” Biden said when asked about the situation at Columbia.
More than 100 protesters were arrested after university authorities called the police onto the private campus Thursday but the move is only escalating tensions in New York.
The NYPD built up a “large presence” around Columbia and the New York Governor Kathy Hochul visited the campus to address security concerns. “Students are scared. They are afraid to walk on campus. They don’t deserve that,” Hochul said in a video posted on X.
Mimi Elias, a social work student who was arrested, told AFP on Monday: “We are going to stay until they talk to us and listen to our demands. We don’t want anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. We are here for the liberation of all,” Elias said.
As the holiday of Passover began Monday night, social media images appeared to show pro-Palestinian Jewish students holding traditional seder meals inside the protest areas on multiple campuses, including at Columbia.
Last week, more than 100 protesters were arrested after university authorities called the police onto the private campus Thursday, a move that seemingly escalated tensions and sparked a greater turnout over the weekend.
Nicholas Baum, a 19-year-old Jewish freshman who lives in a Jewish theological seminary building two blocks from Columbia’s campus, said protesters over the weekend were “calling for Hamas to blow away Tel Aviv and Israel.” He said some of the protesters shouting antisemitic slurs were not students.
“Jews are scared at Columbia. It’s as simple as that,” he said. “There’s been so much vilification of Zionism, and it has spilled over into the vilification of Judaism.”
(with inputs from agencies)
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