On Wednesday, the police moved in again to several American universities, where pro-Palestinian protests are gaining strength. Students and activists occupying the university premises are calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and calling for the withdrawal of companies supporting the Israeli side. In some cities, student demonstrations are accompanied by counter-demonstrations by supporters of Israel. According to Reuters, Republican congressmen accuse the university authorities of “ignoring anti-Semitic rhetoric” and acts of violence.
– New York was under siege last night – commented on the events on local campuses on Wednesday Donald Trump. He praised the work of the police who detained people at Columbia University and City College in New York on Tuesday evening approximately 300 protesters.
The Republican presidential candidate in the November elections described the detainees as “troubling lunatics and Hamas sympathizers.” He also called for immediate removal of protesters' tents“pacifying radicals and restoring campuses to normal students who want to learn”
Police enter universities. Destroys student camps
University authorities, trying to remove demonstrators, often decide to use the police. Already last week, until Thursday alone, over 500 people were arrested and the police used tear gas and stun guns – reported by AFP.
According to CNN, in several buildings on campus City College of New York on Wednesday during the protests The glass door was broken and the walls were covered with graffitithere was also a theft.
Students from New York universities took notice of the radical behavior of officers. “We saw things like serious head injuries, concussions, someone was knocked down in the encampment by the police and lost consciousness, someone was thrown down the stairs,” a student from the City University of New York told AFP.
The New York Police Department arrested at least 15 people on Wednesday after dismantling an encampment on the Fordham University Lincoln Center campus, and the number of arrests was expected to rise. The school asked the New York Police Department to stay on campus at least until May 22, “to maintain order and ensure that the camps are not restored,” local media report.
In turn on University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) the police announced that the protest was an illegal assembly – if the students did not leave the camp, the police would start arresting them. There had already been clashes with the police there in the previous days. Last week, the university authorities canceled the main diploma ceremony on May 10, arguing that the newly required security measures would cause too much organizational disruption.
More arrests at universities. Demonstrators demand a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip
Many people have been arrested during the ongoing pro-Palestinian protest in Dartmouth College on Wednesday evening. Local television footage shows police pulling protesters one by one from the crowd gathered on Dartmouth Green and stops them with zip ties” – reports CNN.
Already University of Texas at Dallas police cleared the encampment and arrested at least 17 people for “illegal entry.”
The police also intervened on Wednesday, among others. on University of Wisconsin at Madison and arrested several protesters. On University of Arizona chemical irritant ammunition was used against the demonstrators rubber balls – reports CNN.
As AFP reminds, the war in the Gaza Strip broke out on October 7, when Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel. As a result, approximately 1,170 people died, mostly civilians, and Hamas also took approximately 250 hostages.
Israeli reprisal offensive killed over 34.5 thousand people in the Gaza Strip, mainly women and children. Currently, the Palestinian organization is considering the terms of the truce proposed by Israel.
Sources: AFP, Reuters, CNN
Stay updated and become one of over 200,000 followers of our fanpage – like Interia Events on Facebook and comment on our articles there!