Columbia University no longer expels students protesting the war in the Gaza Strip

A growing number of university campuses in the United States are struggling to contain a growing wave of student protests over Israel’s war with the Islamist group Hamas, with police detaining dozens at universities across the country, sometimes using tear gas and tasers, to disperse the gatherings.

The office of Minouche Shafik, president of New York-based Columbia University, at 11 p.m. 7 minutes local time (Friday 6:07 a.m. Lithuanian time) issued a statement on time canceling the deadline set by midnight to dismantle a large tent camp where there were about 200 students.

“Negotiations have made progress and are continuing as planned,” the statement said. “We have our requirements, they have theirs.”

The statement denied that the NYPD was called to the campus. “This rumor is false,” it said.

One student, who identified herself only as Mimi, told AFP she spent seven days at the camp.

“They call us terrorists, violent people. But […] they were the ones who called the police when the students were sitting in a circle, she said. “The police have guns, the police have tasers, and we only have our voices.”

The protesting students said they were standing in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where 34,305 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry.

On Wednesday and early Thursday, more than 200 anti-war protesters were arrested at universities in Los Angeles, Boston and Austin. About 2,000 people gathered again on Thursday at the University of Austin in Texas. people.

In southern Georgia, riot police used tear gas and tasers to disperse protests at Emory University in Atlanta.

Photos show police using stun guns as they wrestle with protesters on the lawn.

The Atlanta Police Department said officers responding to a call for help from the university encountered violence and used tear gas in response.

The protests began at Columbia University, which remains the epicenter of the student protest movement.

The dilemma of freedom of expression

The protests are a major challenge for university administrations trying to balance university commitments to free expression with complaints that the rallies have crossed the line.

Supporters of Israel and others concerned about campus safety have pointed to anti-Semitic incidents and said campuses foster intimidation and hate speech.

The demonstrators, who included Jewish students, denied the anti-Semitic aspect and criticized the authorities for equating the protests with opposition to Israel.

US ally Israel launched the war in the Gaza Strip after a bloody attack by Hamas militants on October 7, which according to official figures killed around 1,170 people, mostly civilians.

Hamas militants also took about 250 people hostage. According to Israel, 129 people remain in the Gaza Strip, of which 34 are considered dead.

At the University of Southern California Los Angeles campus, 93 people were arrested for trespassing during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on Wednesday, police said. The university has canceled the graduation ceremony scheduled for May 10.

The ceremony, which usually gathers 65,000 people. people, received a lot of public attention this month when the university administration canceled a planned speech by one of its top students after complaints from Jewish groups that she was associated with anti-Semitic groups. The girl denied the allegations.

Lectures at Boston’s Emerson College were canceled Thursday after overnight police clashes with protesters broke up their camp and arrested 108 people, according to local media.

In Washington, students from Georgetown and George Washington universities established a solidarity camp on the campus of the latter university on Thursday.

Protests also broke out at New York and Yale universities — both of which saw dozens of students arrested earlier this week — as well as Harvard, Brown University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan and elsewhere.

Humboldt Polytechnic University in California said its campus could remain closed until next week as protesters occupied campus facilities.

US President Joe Biden condemned anti-Semitism on Sunday, saying it has no place on college campuses.

But the White House also said the president supports free speech at US universities.