<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<div dir="ltr">
<h1>Hundreds of university students arrested in US as Gaza war
protests spread</h1>
<p class="gmail-article__subhead gmail-css-1wt8oh6"><em>Police out
in full force, some using chemical irritants and Tasers to
disperse the students, as more universities join the movement.</em></p>
<div class="gmail-responsive-image"><img
src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-28T055922Z_557036136_RC2AF7A3DUE8_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-USA-PROTESTS-1714292762.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80"
alt="US college protest Gaza war" style="margin-right: 25px;"
moz-do-not-send="true" width="464" height="309"></div>
A poster is seen as people protest in support of Palestinians in
Gaza at the University of Southern California (USC) [Aude
Guerrucci/Reuters]
<div class="gmail-article-info-block gmail-css-ti04u9">
<div class="gmail-article-b-l"
style="border-color:rgb(250,144,0)">
<div class="gmail-article-dates"
style="border-color:rgb(250,144,0)">
<div class="gmail-date-simple gmail-css-1yjq2zp"><span
class="gmail-screen-reader-text">Published On 28 Apr
2024</span><span aria-hidden="true"> -<font size="1"> </font></span><font
size="1"><a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/28/hundreds-of-university-students-arrested-in-us-as-gaza-war-protests-spread"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/28/hundreds-of-university-students-arrested-in-us-as-gaza-war-protests-spread</a></font></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-update-reading-list"><span
class="gmail-update-reading-list__tooltip" role="tooltip"></span></div>
<a class="gmail-social-share-button gmail-copylink"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Copy link"
href="https://aje.io/jlto60" moz-do-not-send="true"><span
class="gmail-copylink__tooltip gmail-copylink__tooltip-hidden"></span></a>
<p>Hundreds of students have been arrested across universities in
the United States as protesters continue to <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/4/27/from-la-to-new-york-student-protests-in-support-of-palestine-grow-strong"
moz-do-not-send="true">demand a ceasefire</a> in Gaza and
divestment from companies enabling Israel’s nearly seven-month
war on the Palestinian enclave.</p>
<p>Police were out in full force on college campuses on Saturday,
some using chemical irritants and Tasers to disperse the
students, as <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/27/pro-palestinian-student-protests-spread-in-second-week-of-demonstrations"
moz-do-not-send="true">more universities</a> witnessed
protests against the continued bombing of the Gaza Strip and
seeking an end to US military assistance for Israel.</p>
<p>In Boston, police detained about 100 people while clearing a
protest camp at Northeastern University, with social media posts
showing security forces in riot gear and officers loading tents
onto the back of a truck.</p>
<img class="gmail-size-arc-image-770 gmail-wp-image-2864764"
src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/AP24118470691692-1714286410.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C578&quality=80"
alt="Police clear an encampment on the Northeastern University campus in Boston, early Saturday, April 27, 2024."
style="margin-right: 25px;" moz-do-not-send="true" width="464"
height="348">Police clear an encampment on the Northeastern
University campus in Boston [Michael Casey/AP Photo]
<p>In a statement on X, Northeastern said the area on campus where
the protests were held was now “fully secured” and “all campus
operations have returned to normal”.</p>
<p>The school said its move came after “what began as a student
demonstration two days ago was infiltrated by professional
organisers with no affiliation to Northeastern”. It added that
detained individuals who produced a valid school ID were
released and will face disciplinary proceedings, not legal
action.</p>
<p>In Bloomington in the Midwest, the Indiana University Police
Department arrested 23 people as they cleared a campus protest
camp, the Indiana Daily Student newspaper reported.</p>
<p>On the opposite side of the country, the Arizona State
University Police Department arrested 69 people for trespassing
after the group set up an “unauthorised encampment” on campus.</p>
<p>Arizona state officials said a protest group, “most of whom
were not ASU students, faculty or staff”, set up a camp on
Friday and ignored repeated orders to disperse.</p>
<img class="gmail-size-arc-image-770 gmail-wp-image-2864766"
src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-26T231245Z_354208469_RC21E7A5I7ER_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-USA-PROTESTS-1714286422.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80"
alt="Students gather for a Pro-Palestinian protest, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at the Arizona State University"
style="margin-right: 25px;" moz-do-not-send="true" width="464"
height="309">Students gather for a Pro-Palestinian protest at
the Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona [Liliana
Salgado/Reuters]
<p>Meanwhile, at Washington University in St Louis, at least 80
people were arrested, including US presidential candidate Jill
Stein and her campaign manager.</p>
<p>Across the US, university leaders have tried, and largely
failed, to quell the demonstrations, which often saw the police
intervening violently, with videos emerging from different
states showing hundreds of students – and even faculty members –
being forcefully arrested.</p>
<p>The protesters have demanded amnesty for students and faculty
members disciplined or fired for protesting. About a week ago at
<a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/27/columbia-universitys-shafik-rebuked-over-gaza-crackdown-but-avoids-censure"
moz-do-not-send="true">Columbia University</a> in New York,
more than 100 pro-Palestinian activists were arrested.</p>
<p>What started at the Columbia campus has turned into a
nationwide showdown between students and administrators over
pro-Palestine protests and the restrictions on free speech.</p>
<p>In the past 10 days, hundreds of students have been arrested,
suspended, put on probation and, in rare cases, expelled from
colleges, including Yale University, the University of Southern
California, Vanderbilt University and the University of
Minnesota.</p>
<p>A few universities had to cancel graduation ceremonies, while
others have seen their buildings occupied by the protesters.</p>
<h2 id="gmail-students-taking-big-risks">Students taking ‘big
risks’</h2>
<p>Al Jazeera’s John Hendren, reporting from Princeton University
in New Jersey, said “the price of protests can be high” for the
students occupying college campuses.</p>
<p>“Students are taking some big risks at these protests. If they
violate university rules, they can be expelled. And here at
Princeton, tuition is over $50,000 a year,” he said. “For many
of them, it’s an education they have been looking forward to all
their lives.”</p>
<p>Princeton student Sam Bisno told Al Jazeera taking such risks
showed how “passionate” students were about the issue. “People
are willing to put it all on the line. But we know we have the
power in numbers,” he said.</p>
<img class="gmail-size-arc-image-770 gmail-wp-image-2864856"
src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-28T070646Z_1519611366_RC2IF7AO6QA4_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-USA-PROTESTS-1714292845.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C494&quality=80"
alt="US college protest" style="margin-right: 25px;"
moz-do-not-send="true" width="464" height="298">People stand
near a flower arrangement that reads ‘Free Palestine’ during a
protest at the University of Southern California [David
Swanson/Reuters]
<p>Momodou Taal was among four students whom Cornell University in
New York state “temporarily suspended” on Saturday for setting
up an encampment on its campus.</p>
<p>He told Al Jazeera the protesting students received threats and
were subjected to doxing, which refers to the posting of the
personal information of an individual on the internet without
their consent. He said such students received no protection from
their school.</p>
<p>“We no longer have faith in the administration to be a place
safe for Muslim students, for Arab students, for Palestinian
students and by and large those students of colour and
pro-Palestinian students,” Taal said.</p>
<p>Maysam Elghazali, an organiser of the protests at Emory
University in Atlanta, said the demonstrating students had three
demands.</p>
<p>“Number one, that Emory disclose all of its financial
investments. Number two, that they divest from all Israeli
companies, and number three, that they provide continued amnesty
and protection to all the students who were unjustly arrested,”
she told Al Jazeera.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, college protests against the “genocide” of the
Palestinians in Gaza have also spread to schools in Canada,
Europe and Australia.</p>
<p>Canada’s first campus protest camp for Gaza came up at McGill
University in Montreal on Saturday.</p>
<p>Broadcaster CBC reported protesters were demanding McGill and
Concordia universities “divest from funds implicated in the
Zionist state as well as [cut] ties with Zionist academic
institutions”.</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>