Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last year, students at scores of colleges and universities across the United States have come out to protest in support of Palestinians.
As the war in Gaza has escalated, universities have been caught in an often vitriolic debate over how to handle the protests, which many Jewish students and alumni say have often veered into antisemitism and instilled fear on campus. University leaders have also faced pressure from Republican lawmakers demanding they do more to quash speech that they say encourages violence against Jews.
Demonstrators and their faculty supporters say that these demands are intended to suppress their political speech and support for the Palestinian cause.
Several institutions have cracked down on pro-Palestinian protests and encampments. On April 18, Columbia University’s president called the police to clear out the encampment on its New York City campus, just a day after she vowed to members of Congress that the university would discipline some protesters. Over 100 protesters were arrested that night.
That move backfired. Students across the country protested and started their own encampments in solidarity with the arrested students. And at Columbia, student protesters simply re-established the encampment, with dozens of tents lined up on the campus lawn.
At nearly 20 universities, the police moved in and detained protesters, leading to more than 800 arrests so far. Scores of students have been suspended or threatened with disciplinary action. And yet, many protests have continued.