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Protesters link arms outside Hamilton Hall barricading students inside the building at Columbia University, despite an order to disband the protest encampment supporting Palestinians or face suspension, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City, U.S., April 30, 2024.
US campuses and Arab world protest over Gaza
Pro-Palestine protests on US college campuses continue to make headlines. At Columbia University, where students have been camped out on the university lawns for over a week demanding the school divest from Israel, students broke into and occupied a building on campus last night -- the very same hall that was occupied during the Vietnam War protests in 1968. They have also spread their encampment onto a second lawn on campus.
Around 12:30 a.m., protesters broke the windows and gained access to Hamilton Hall. They immediately began blocking both sides of the doors with hundreds of pounds of furniture, rope, and zip ties. A banner was hung out the front window renaming the building “Hind's Hall,” referring to Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian who was killed by the Israeli military in Gaza on Jan. 29. As they tried to enter the building, two students attempted to block their way, shouting, “You don’t have the right to tear down our university.” NYPD remained outside the gates and has not been given permission to enter campus.
Meanwhile, at the University of Texas at Austin, at least 40 more students were arrested on Monday to the applause of Gov. Greg Abbott. The move came after 57 people were arrested for participating in a student walkout there last week.
The Gaza war has also catalyzed demonstrations in the surrounding region itself — and with the memory of the Arab Spring still fresh on their minds, leaders are responding with repressive tactics.
The Egyptian government has not taken kindly to pro-Palestinian protests that have also aimed at Cairo’s diplomatic ties with Israel. In early April, Egyptian authorities arrested at least 10 people at a protest accusing Cairo of fueling the war in Gaza and calling for the government to expel the Israeli ambassador.
Authorities in Morocco and Jordan have also arrested and prosecuted people who’ve criticized their government’s ties to Israel. Jordanian authorities have reportedly arrested roughly 1,500 over such demonstrations since October.
The Palestinian cause has been a rallying cry in the Arab world for decades. And without a cease-fire in Gaza, the war seems poised to continue stoking public outrage across the region.
That said, a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Monday for further truce talks facilitated by international negotiators. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged the militant group to accept an “extraordinarily generous” new proposal from Israel that lowered the number of hostages it wants to see released for a phased cease-fire to begin.
Pro-Palestine protesters hold placards expressing their opinion as they participate in a sit-in demonstration at New York University.
Campuses in crisis vs. Capitol Hill calm
Across the US, college students have been protesting, sleeping outside, and even getting arrested for trying to force their schools to divest from companies with ties to Israel. Meanwhile, it's been business as usual on Capitol Hill, where the Senate approved a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan late Tuesday. The bill, which includes $17 billion in wartime assistance to Israel plus $9 billion for humanitarian aid in Gaza, is now heading for President Joe Biden's desk, where it is expected to be signed.
Student protesters have been targeting companies like Hewlett Packard, Lockheed Martin, and Airbnb, identified by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement as benefitting the Israeli government, which they blame for the 34,183 Palestinians who have died from Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct. 7. At Columbia College, the oldest undergraduate college at Columbia, 76.5% of students voted this week for the university’s $13.6 billion endowment to divest from Israel. Divestment is being pushed on campuses across the country, from Columbia and Yale to the University of Michigan and Berkeley, to name a few.
Universities appear unlikely to cave to protesters' demands and are instead bracing for chaotic ends to the semester. Columbia has moved to hybrid learning in acknowledgment that many students, particularly Jewish students, report feeling unsafe on campus. Meanwhile, colleges are weighing whether it is possible to hold graduation ceremonies without them becoming high-profile stages for protest.
Yet, despite intense student activism on campuses, there was no sign of public protest against the aid package on Capitol Hill this week.
Biden knows he is facing a possible backlash from Gen Z voters over Gaza and US funding for Israel. The president had hoped tougher talk on Israel would boost his reelection bid, but with less than seven months before Nov. 5, the protests and aid package could make it more difficult for him to get young voters to the polls.