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On April 17, hundreds of Columbia students erected tents in front of Columbia University's Butler Library in New York City to protest Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip and demand that the university withdraw its investments from companies that profit from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Columbia University President Minush Shafiq authorized New York police to enter the campus to disperse demonstrators, and police are known to have arrested hundreds of students. On April 22 local time, Minush announced that Columbia University would switch to online classes to "alleviate hatred" and "give everyone time to think about their next move." This wave of protest is sweeping across colleges and universities across the United States!
In a university letter, Minush Shafiq wrote, "Columbia University is undergoing a severe test and will require a lot of time and energy to recover. Students have strong concerns about their safety, and schools are doing more to address safety issues. ”
According to the New York Times, the arrested students filled at least three buses. New York Mayor Adams said at least 108 people were arrested during the clearance and that no one was injured in the process. Disturbingly, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters, ignoring police intervention, remained stranded in the heart of the campus on Friday, sleeping in the open with sleeping bags, simple mattresses and picnic blankets.
Many Columbia faculty members expressed outrage at the mass arrests. Nadia Abu Haji, a professor of anthropology at Columbia University, said, "This is the most appalling incident I have ever witnessed, and it should not have happened in an academic institution." ”
But the Columbia riots are just one microcosm of the growing tensions across the country. On Friday, students at a number of colleges and universities, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also pitched tents in solidarity with pro-Palestinian Columbia students. Some wore Arabic headscarves, masks and glasses to prevent revealing their identities. Others have been arrested or suspended from school.
At Pomona College, police arrested 19 protesting students who had encroached on the principal's office, seven of whom were temporarily suspended, but the suspension was revoked at the request of the vast majority of teachers.
Since last week, Yale students have organized a hunger strike calling for the university to withdraw from the military-industrial complex involved in the Israeli-Palestinian war. This request was denied by Yale.
A University of Chicago study of thousands of college students found that more than half of the students surveyed in December and January felt they were not being safe.
Across the country, colleges and universities are looking to find a balance between respecting the right to protest and keeping their campuses safe. Other university presidents have issued similar statements, stating that they support the right to protest in principle, but must not harass or obstruct the rights of others.
Currently, President Shafiq continues to face intense pressure from Congress to end the campus protests. On Sunday, Rep. Ellis Stefanik, D-N.Y., called for Shafiq's resignation, accusing Columbia of "serious failures in enforcing school rules and protecting Jewish students" (the same congressman who toppled the presidents of Harvard and Penn, who now seems likely to achieve a triple kill).
Faced with the intensification of protests, US President Joe Biden condemned the so-called "anti-Semitic protests", while his rival Trump sharply criticized: "It's all Biden's fault." "It seems that the sharp conflict in American society will not stop until the election results are confirmed.
As of now, the protests are raging in American universities. The Study Abroad Supervision Network reminds all international students in the United States to pay attention to their own safety and try not to be close to the area of the assembly to avoid accidental injury.
It is true that American universities perform well in the world rankings, but frequent protests will also have an impact on students' academic lives. If you pay more attention to security, it is recommended to consider the United States and other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, etc. If you really don't know how to choose, you can use the free study abroad locator tool below to test the school that suits you, or you can scan the QR code to contact us for more specific consulting services!
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