Students and faculty members from universities across the United States are continuing to protest in support of Palestine. They are demanding their universities cut financial ties with Israel and divest from companies they say enable the war on Gaza. More than 550 students have been arrested in the last week.

New York

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Israel-Gaza War

Pro-Palestinian protests at universities across the United States have entered their second week, with students and faculty members uniting in their call for educational institutions to sever financial relations with Israel. This nationwide movement is a response to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, with protesters demanding divestment from companies they accuse of supporting the war efforts. In the past week, more than 550 individuals participating in these protests have been arrested.

The protests have become a focal point for a broader national debate on U.S. policy towards Israel and its military actions in Gaza. Columbia University in New York has emerged as a significant site for the demonstrations, symbolically divided by both Israeli and Palestinian flags. Despite the high number of arrests and appeals from university authorities for protesters to disband, those camped on campus are steadfast in their demands for divestment and disclosure of the university's financial ties with Israel, alongside amnesty for all students and faculty facing disciplinary actions due to their activism.

The movement has drawn attention from political figures, including Muslim American Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who expressed her support for the demonstrators, emphasizing the historical role of youth in advocating for governmental change and asserting their stance against what she described as the "genocide" in Gaza. On the other hand, the demonstrations have also sparked counter-protests, with individuals outside the student occupation zones voicing opposition to what they perceive as a promotion of hate and racism.

This wave of protests has not been confined to New York, spreading to various prominent universities across the country, including Northwestern University in suburban Chicago, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the University of New Mexico, among others. The demonstrations have initiated a national conversation on the U.S.'s involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict, with protesters determined to keep the discourse alive regardless of any attempts to quell their gatherings.

As the academic year draws to a close, universities are now faced with the challenge of whether to conduct graduation ceremonies amidst the ongoing protests, with demonstrators continuing their calls for justice and accountability from their institutions with regards to their financial dealings related to Israel and the conflict in Gaza.



Pro-Palestinian protests in U.S. continue into second week

The standoff at universities across the United States has forced a national confrontation over U.S. policy on Israel and its war on Gaza. The national divide is reflected at the epicenter of the protest movement on New York's Columbia University campus, Israeli flags and Palestinian flags marking the conflict half a world away. Demonstrators say despite hundreds of arrests here and across the country and the university's calls for them to leave, they will remain in their encampment. They're demanding the university divest from investments with ties to Israel and its war on Gaza. We are calling upon Columbia University to divest, disclose, and provide amnesty for all students and faculty disciplined in the movement for Palestinian liberation. Those are our central demands, and until those are met, we will not be going anywhere. We will continue to protest. Muslim American Congresswoman Ilhan Omar voiced her support for the demonstrators inside their encampment on Thursday. Young people have always pushed our government to do better, whether it was through the civil rights movement, whether it's been to end the Vietnam War. And I think that they are on the right side of history in pushing our country to not stay complacent in the genocide that's taking place in Gaza. A sea of new Israeli flags silently appeared this week meters from the student zone of occupation that has drawn the eyes of the world, where a lone counter-protester condemned the demonstration. This hate has to stop. Jewish and Israeli students are not here to ask for your pity. But as leaders, to stand against a radical flame of hate and racism, this is a tipping point in history. The protests and tent encampments have spread from coast to coast, from New York to suburban Chicago's Northwestern University, to Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the University of New Mexico, and dozens of campuses in between. Students at Columbia University have started a national conversation. Whatever happens here or at other campuses, those protests can get shut down in one place, but that conversation has spread to campuses across the U.S., and they say there's no stopping that. Not another nickel, not another dime! As the clock ticks down to the final weeks of classes, universities across the U.S. are deciding whether to hold graduation ceremonies punctuated by encamped protesters' calls for justice. John Hendron, Al Jazeera, New York.

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Israel-Gaza War