Recently, protests related to the Palestinian issue have erupted in colleges and universities across the United States, and the situation has intensified. On April 27, police at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, demolished a pro-Palestinian protest camp on campus and detained about 100 people, CCTV News reported. And this is just a small microcosm of the many universities.
According to U.S. officials, more than 700 people have been arrested in connection with related protests since the 18th. On the 27th alone, more than 200 protesters were arrested at multiple colleges and universities, including Northeastern University, Arizona State University, Indiana University, and the University of Washington. Across the country, there appears to be an effort to "quell" the escalating demonstrations on campuses.
According to statistics, in the last ten days, 86 universities have participated in protest demonstrations, of which 19 have had students arrested. Even presidential candidates and campaigns have not been spared from this turmoil. Washington University in St. Louis was closed after police arrested protesting students, and the campus was locked down that night, and the police are still dealing with the matter. At Northeastern University in Boston, police handcuffed 102 people and dismantled tents erected by protesters. It is unclear how many of those arrested are students, but the school said students who showed university identification were being released.
Renata Neyle, a spokesperson for Northeastern University, noted that some people who professionally organized the protests mixed in, and even went so far as to have extreme slogans such as "kill the Jews." However, the protesters denied this and provided video proof that the actions were committed by pro-Israel people.
On the 25th, 118 people at Emerson College were arrested for refusing police demands for disbandment. On the 27th, protesters at Columbia University set up tents in protest. In addition to the Eastern Region, protesters have been arrested at universities in other regions, such as Arizona State University with 69 and Indiana University with 23. Prior to this, students and faculty at Emory University and the University of Southern California were also arrested. Most of the protesters set up tents on university campuses to express their demands that "companies that support Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip should keep their distance from universities."
Alina Kaudel, a student at Northeastern University, reiterated the protesters' demands, calling on the university to disclose investments and dissolve ties with the companies involved. University professors have voiced their opposition to the arrest of students by police in the United States and the dissolution of the protests by university authorities. At Columbia University, the center of the nationwide "tent protests," the University Senate, which is attended by professors, faculty, staff, and students, decided to set up an investigation team on the 26th to investigate the appropriateness of President Nemat Shafiq's request for police dispatch. At the same time, professors protested by holding aloft placards that read "Don't touch our students." Since then, Columbia authorities have chosen to consult with the students rather than turn to the police again when faced with the situation where the students set up their tents again.
In the case of the arrest of 133 people at New York University on the 22nd, the professors handed over letters of protest to the school authorities. Among them, more than 30 professors at New York University School of Law criticized the introduction of police as a "stain on the school" in a joint letter. At Emory University, some professors participated in a tent protest with students on the 25th, and were even arrested along with students. In addition to the arrests, universities have taken other steps to put pressure on protesters, such as suspending students who have been arrested by the police and released from school.
On the 27th, Harvard's student dean sent an email to the student union, warning that students who participated in the protest would face disciplinary action. In addition, the school only allows people who show their student ID to enter the campus. At Cornell University, four students linked to pro-Palestinian protests on campus were suspended. Although the school admitted that the punishment had been carried out, it declined to disclose the exact number of people.
On the 27th, at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, US President Joe Biden attended the event, but was met with critical protests from pro-Palestinian protesters. Before the event, hundreds of people gathered around the hotel, chanting slogans such as "Shame on you" to attendees entering the hotel.
More than two dozen journalists in Gaza had called on their colleagues in Washington to boycott the dinner. They also claimed that journalists covering the Gaza Strip were not reporting the truth about the war correctly. "Western media, we see you, and all the horrors you hide," the crowd chanted at one point. Other protesters lay motionless on the sidewalk. Inside the Washington Hilton, rallies cheered as the Palestinian flag was unfurled from a window on the top floor.
On the 27th, Biden's motorcade chose an alternate route from the White House to the Washington Hilton Hotel compared to previous years, largely avoiding the crowds of demonstrators. At the dinner, Biden's speech lasted about 10 minutes, but not once did he mention the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Only the president of the journalists' association, Kelly O'Donnell, briefly noted that about 100 journalists were killed during Israel's six-month military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
However, an internal memo leaked on the 27th reportedly revealed that the issue of "possible violations of international law by Israeli forces" was raised within the US State Department. Some senior U.S. officials have informed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel has no "credible or reliable" assurances that it is using U.S.-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law. The assessment of the material submitted jointly by the four bureaux cited a number of examples of Israeli military operations involving attacks on protected sites and civilian infrastructure, unjustified harm to civilians, inadequate investigation of violations and killings of humanitarian workers and journalists.
USAID also provided comments on the memo, which wrote that nearly 32,000 people were killed, with the Israeli government itself estimating that about two-thirds were civilians, in a likely violation of international humanitarian law. A spokesman for USAID said the agency does not comment on the leaked documents.
The conflict and turmoil surrounding the Palestinian issue have not only triggered fierce contradictions and confrontations in colleges and universities, but also reflected the deep-seated problems and differences in American society. In this strife, people see not only protests and conflicts, but also a desire for peace and justice, and a call for human conscience.