US student protests in support of Gaza spread despite crackdown

FILE: Protests in and around Columbia University in support of Palestine and against Israeli occupation. A side gate by the bookstore where the crowd is—inside and out. (Photo By SWinxy/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

NEW YORK – The pro-Palestinian protest that started last week at Columbia University has now reached Harvard, Texas, Brown, and Southern California universities.

Students in several other American universities also started their sit-ins on Wednesday in protest of the ongoing attacks in Gaza and called for a ceasefire.

At the University of Texas, dozens of local police and state troopers lined up to prevent students from marching on campus, eventually clashing with protesters and arresting several people.

Harvard University in Massachusetts also restricted access to its campus and required a permit to set up tents, but protesters erected 14 tents on Wednesday in defiance.

Supporters of Solidarity with Gaza at Brown University also called on the university to sever ties with all companies that enable and profit from the genocide in Gaza and the broader Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

About 100 pro-Palestinian students at the University of Texas staged a sit-in along the corridor leading to the dean’s office, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, students at Columbia University in New York once again clashed with police, prompting officials to close the university.

What we are seeing in some universities, including Columbia, is a situation that is completely out of control, the governor of Pennsylvania told CNN but said “Students have the right to protest peacefully according to university policy as well as city and state laws.

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The students at Columbia University began a peaceful protest but turned violent after police made arrests, destroyed camps, and several people were suspended over the accusations that they chanted anti-Semitic slogans, a usual pretext cited to clampdown on pro-Palestine rallies.