Columbia Students Refuse To Leave Amid Gaza Protests, Many Suspended

In response to two weeks of protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, authorities at various higher education institutions in the United States have taken measures to crack down on the demonstrations. At Columbia University in New York, authorities demanded that a protest encampment be cleared, threatening disciplinary action against students who did not comply.

Meanwhile, at the University of Texas at Austin, police clashed with protesters and made arrests while dismantling an encampment. Protests against the Gaza war have posed a challenge for university administrators, who must balance free speech rights with concerns about anti-Semitism and maintaining order on campus during exam studies.

Protest organizers deny accusations of anti-Semitism and argue that their actions are aimed at Israel’s government and its prosecution of the conflict in Gaza. Some incidents have also been attributed to non-student agitators.

The White House has attempted to defend the right to protest while condemning reported acts of anti-Semitism. However, Biden’s Republican opponents have seized on the issue, portraying the protests as anti-Semitic and threatening to pull federal funding if they aren’t stopped.

Suspensions related to the protests were also ongoing at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The protests have attracted attention due to the high Palestinian civilian death toll in Gaza.

The Gaza war began with an attack by Hamas militants on Israel, which resulted in a significant number of casualties on both sides.