Unprecedented protests by university students in the United States demanding an end to Israeli aggression in Gaza have spread rapidly. As the movement spread to more than 20 universities, the authorities are cracking down on a large scale. Another 200 people were arrested in one day.
Among them is a presidential candidate of the country. However, the agitators say that they will not back down in the arrest operation. They are ready to make sacrifices to achieve their demands. President Joe Biden had to enter the event through the back door amid protests.
Protesters are demanding their educational institutions boycott companies and individuals with ties to Israel. Student protests on US university campuses show little sign of abating. The protesters vowed to continue their agitation until their demands are met.
Protests have spread to more than 40 campuses across the United States. The students are demanding an end to the Israeli aggression in Gaza by making tents in these campuses. Most of the protests by students are peaceful. This is perhaps the most significant student movement since the student protests against American aggression in Vietnam in the late 1960s.
More than two hundred students were arrested for suppressing protests at four universities on Saturday local time. They were arrested on the campuses of Northeastern University, Arizona State University, Indiana University and Washington University in St. Louis. Students are protesting by pitching tents in these institutions. More than 700 protesters have been arrested so far in the crackdown on protests that began at US universities on April 18. But most of them were later released.
Officials at Washington University in St. Louis said more than 80 protesters were arrested during a demonstration Saturday. Police arrested 69 people, including 15 students, for setting up an ‘unauthorized camp’ at Arizona State University. Police arrested at least 23 people after protesters set up camp at Indiana University Bloomington. Police arrested nearly 100 people while clearing ‘unauthorized encampments’ on the campus of Northeastern University in Boston. Due to the circumstances, the University of Southern California has temporarily closed off campus access to all but residents.
Presidential candidate arrested
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was arrested Saturday at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Washington. He went there to show solidarity with the protesting students by setting up a camp in the campus. In a video recorded before his arrest, he said he stood in support of the students and the freedom of speech guaranteed by the constitution.
Stein said, ‘We are going to stand here with students who stand up for democracy; stands for human rights; Genocide stands to stop.
Meanwhile, the famous US Senator Bernie Sanders said that protests on US campuses are not anti-Semitic. It is important to hold the Israeli government accountable for the destruction in Gaza. Sanders said most of the American people are fed up with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war machine in Gaza. They don’t want to send any more aid to Israel.
Demonstrations at Biden’s venue
President Biden faced protests Saturday night at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Banner-carrying protesters chanted slogans against the deaths of journalists in Gaza outside the Washington Hilton, the site of the annual gathering. Hundreds of protestors organized it to encourage journalists to boycott the event. In this situation, Biden reached the hotel through the back entrance, according to Reuters.
Gaza students are grateful to the protestors
Palestinian students held a solidarity rally in southern Gaza on Sunday, expressing their gratitude to the US protesting students. Children carry a banner at the Shabora refugee camp in Rafah, which reads: ‘Columbia University students stand by us’ and ‘Violation of our right to education and life is a war crime.’
Palestinian children wrote messages of gratitude to the US protesters on tent cloths: ‘Thank you students for showing solidarity with Gaza. Your message has reached us.’
