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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
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COLUMBIA FACULTY, STUDENTS CONTINUE PROTESTS; UCLA CANCELS CLASSES AFTER MELEE:
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John Bacon Eduardo Cuevas N'dea Yancey-Bragg Jorge L. Ortiz
USA TODAY


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NEW YORK − Hundreds of faculty and graduate student workers rallied on a sunny
Wednesday afternoon outside Columbia University’s only open entrance, protesting
the university’s decision hours earlier to send police on campus and arrest more
than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Protesters held signs, including “no cops on campus,” as police entered and
exited the campus gates just feet away. Others held signs calling for university
President Minouche Shafik to resign. Faculty members said access was heavily
restricted, as campus was closed for a second day in the period before finals,
open only to students living on campus and essential workers.

The NYPD announced almost 300 arrests had taken place Tuesday at Columbia and
City College − hours before Los Angeles police in riot gear swept onto UCLA's
campus to break up a violent melee between dueling protesters as opposition to
Israel's war in Gaza continued to roll through universities across the nation.



Dozens of the New York arrests involved demonstrators removed from an
administration building at Columbia, where officers also took down encampments
that had been the epicenter of the protests nationwide.

"Students and outside activists breaking Hamilton Hall doors, mistreating our
Public Safety officers and maintenance staff, and damaging property are acts of
destruction, not political speech," Shafik said in a statement Wednesday. She
added that many students felt unwelcome on campus because of the disruption and
antisemitic comments made by some protesters.



At City College, affiliated with City University of New York, officials
requested NYPD assistance after the college said students and "un-affiliated
external individuals" refused to leave. The school issued a statement saying
students have a right to demonstrate peacefully but that police were called in
because of "specific and repeated acts of violence and vandalism, not in
response to peaceful protest."

About 1,200 people in southern Israel were killed and more than 200 taken
hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The Israeli retaliatory
assault has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Gaza
Health Ministry, and obliterated much of the enclave's infrastructure. The
humanitarian crisis has fueled outrage on some U.S. campuses and spurred demands
for an end to investment in Israeli companies and amnesty for student
protesters.



Developments:

∎ Protesters and police clashed at the University of Wisconsin in Madison when
officers broke up an encampment there Wednesday. Video from the scene showed
some protesters being pinned to the ground.

∎ Tulane University said at least 14 protesters were arrested from the "illegal
encampment" the school said was dominated by protesters "unaffiliated with our
community."



∎ Ohio State officials locked up some buildings in anticipation of a
pro-Palestinian demonstration Wednesday afternoon. A similar protest last week
led to almost 40 arrests.


UCLA CALLS IN POLICE WHEN DUELING PROTESTERS CLASH; CLASSES CANCELED

At UCLA, video posted on social media showed counterdemonstrators battering a
makeshift barricade around pro-Palestinian protesters. The Los Angeles Police
Department said it responded to UCLA's request to restore order "due to multiple
acts of violence within the large encampment" on the campus. "The violence
unfolding this evening at UCLA is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable," Los
Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a Twitter post Wednesday. "LAPD has arrived on
campus."



The Los Angeles Times reported police did not intervene for more than an hour
after arriving as counterdemonstrators wearing black outfits and white masks −
some armed with metal pipes and sticks − repeatedly tried to breach the
perimeter of the encampment while campers pushed back and several fights broke
out. It was not clear whether any arrests were made, the newspaper said.

The Jewish Federation Los Angeles issued a statement saying it was "appalled" at
the violence, which did not "represent the Jewish community or our values." But
the statement also blamed the fracas on the UCLA administration for allowing an
environment that made students feel unsafe.

UCLA canceled Wednesday classes and Chancellor Gene Block said the student
conduct process has been initiated and could lead to disciplinary action
including suspension or expulsion.




COLUMBIA FACULTY MEMBERS PROTEST DECISION TO BRING IN POLICE

Some of faculty and graduate student workers rallying outside Columbia's gates
wore orange safety vests that said “faculty,” which they donned days earlier to
help protect students in the encampment. 

“There is not a single university left in Gaza, and I bet a lot of you feel
there is not a university here in Morningside Heights,” Joseph Hawley, an
associate professor of classics, told gatherers, referring to the neighborhood
around the school. “But I’m here to tell you the university is here on this
sidewalk.”



Barricades still lined city streets outside Columbia’s campus as police officers
stood watch. Shafik has asked the New York Police Department to remain on campus
until May 17, two days after graduation.

Mana Kia, an associate professor, read a draft statement from the Columbia
chapter of the American Association of University Professors saying members
"unequivocally condemn President Shafik, the Columbia board of trustees and
other senior administrators involved in the decision to call in the NYPD and
clear the encampment of student protesters." The statement said the association
has "no confidence in the administration."


ORGANIZER SAYS 'ORDINARY PEOPLE,' NOT AGITATORS BEHIND PROTESTS

Less than three hours before a huge deployment of New York City police officers
broke up an encampment and retook a building at Columbia on Tuesday night, Mayor
Eric Adams made a forceful case that the pro-Palestinian protest at the school
had been hijacked by "outside agitators'' bent on sowing chaos.

Those involved in pushing for the movement off-campus disagree, saying it
belongs to regular folks trying to raise awareness to the Palestinians' plight.



Manolo De Los Santos, an organizer with The People’s Forum, said those joining
the protests alongside students are just “ordinary New Yorkers.”“The power of
this moment is that it’s everyone coming together,” he said. “It’s health care
workers, it’s teachers, it’s city workers. It’s ordinary people who feel so
strongly.”   


'INTIFADA' CHANTS BY SOME PROTESTERS ARE 'HORRIBLY UPSETTING'

Dozens of protesters gathered Wednesday in and around Fordham University’s Leon
Lowenstein Center in Manhattan and established an encampment. The group is
demanding the university divest from all companies “complicit in the Israeli
occupation and ongoing siege,” according to a statement from the Fordham for
Palestine Coalition.

As the demonstration grew throughout the afternoon, it also attracted a handful
of onlookers and opponents who occasionally shouted pro-Israel remarks as they
passed. Asa Kittay and Carly Connors said they were in class down the street
when they heard demonstrators chanting “Intifada,” an Arabic word for uprising
or rebellion. Kittay, who held up a tablet with an image of the Israeli flag,
said it was “horribly upsetting.”“I believe that these two states can co-exist
peacefully,” Connors said. “I do not believe in an intifada. That is not very
anti-genocide.” John Lefkowitz, who attended the protest with friends who go to
Fordham, said he believes the demonstrations are sometimes incorrectly
characterized as antisemitic by people who are uninformed about the position of
anti-Zionism.“It’s often told that Jews should feel unsafe in pro-Palestine
circles. As a Jew, I’ve never felt unsafe in a pro-Palestinian circle,” he said.
“These people are great, they’re not anti-semites.”




NYU ENCAMPMENT STAYS IN PLACE AFTER OTHERS IN CITY WERE TORN DOWN

The day after other city schools saw violent clashes with police, the encampment
at NYU's lower Manhattan campus stood untouched. Punctuated by faded chalk
reading "End Jewish and Palestinian hate," the collection of tents and chairs
took up about one city block near 181 Mercer Street, where the university's
Paulson Center is located. 

Fenced-off and guarded by a smattering of campus security, the encampment was
bracing for hot weather with some protesters carrying umbrellas to block out the
sun and one arriving with large bags of ice. Demonstrators needed to present a
school ID to enter the encampment. The barricades held signs reading, "Fund our
education, not the occupation" and listing the protesters' demands, which
include divestment and closing NYU's Tel Aviv campus.

The shadow of Tuesday's mass arrests and the forced removal of encampments on
the other end of the island at Columbia and City College of New York was
evident. Just outside the barricades, a group of demonstrators huddled to
practice safety tactics.



− Anna Kaufman 


HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS JOINING THE PROTEST MOVEMENT

The proliferation of antiwar protests in college campuses across the U.S. is
filtering down to the younger academic levels, and some of the grown-ups are not
happy about it.

A sit-in planned for Wednesday at a Chicago prep school is the latest among high
school demonstrations showing support for embattled Palestinians in Gaza. On
Monday, about 100 high school students in Austin, Texas, walked out of their
classes in protest. Last week, students in western Washington state similarly
expressed their objection to the U.S. backing Israel's military efforts in Gaza.

"I'm protesting against a government that is actively hurting people just
because of where they were born and what language they speak," Pia Ibsen, a
senior at McCallum High School in Austin, told USA TODAY. Ibsen helped organize
a walkout and left class for about an hour and a half.



Some school and government officials have tried to stop the protests, arguing
they create a hostile environment for Jewish students. That was the case last
week when two county commissioners in New Jersey demanded a school district's
superintendent cancel a pro-Palestinian walkout at East Regional High in
Voorhees Township. The protest was replaced by a rally for human rights.

− Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Kayla Jimenez


ALMOST 300 PROTESTERS ARRESTED IN NYC; STUDENT GROUP SAYS SOME WERE INJURED

New York City police made 119 arrests at Columbia University and 173 at City
College in Tuesday night's crackdowns on protesters, Commissioner Edward Caban
said Wednesday. Charges range from trespassing to criminal mischief to burglary,
and the breakdown of students to non-students facing charges was not yet
available, he said.

Police said there were no injuries, although CUNY for Palestine issued a
statement saying one student suffered a broken ankle, two had teeth broken and
others received burns from pepper spray used by police during the clash.



Mayor Eric Adams said drones and encryption radios used at Columbia provided
police with the element of surprise when they retook Hamilton Hall, adding that
"professionals at radicalizing" had influenced the student protesters and
co-opted the protest but without providing details.

Officers climbed into Hamilton Hall, which protesters had occupied earlier
Tuesday, through a second-story window. Within three hours Tuesday night, they
had retaken the building, NYPD said.

"It was about external actors hijacking a peaceful protest and influencing
students to escalate," Adams said. "We cannot allow what should be a lawful
protest turn into a violent spectacle that serves no purpose."


FORDHAM, ANOTHER NYC UNIVERSITY, ESTABLISHES ENCAMPMENT

Outside Fordham University’s Leon Lowenstein Center building on Wednesday,
another encampment sprung up. Students, faculty and community members surrounded
by law enforcement officers and newly erected barricades chanted “Free, free
Palestine” and “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.” Inside,
demonstrators including current and former students milled around their tents,
played drums, banged on windows and held up signs reading “Free Palestine” and
“Divest genocide funds” for passersby to see.



Julie Norris, a 27-year-old Fordham alumni, said she arrived before 8 a.m.
Wednesday to help establish the encampment. Norris, who spoke to USA TODAY on
the phone from inside the Lowenstein Center, estimated about 30 people were
inside with her and said they plan to stay until their demands are met.

“The students can’t be stopped,” she said. “We saw intense repression against
students on other campuses yesterday, and this morning students are ready to
stand back up. There’s going to be no business as usual until Palestine is
free.”

Northwestern, Brown reach deal:Make pact with student demonstrators to curb
protests


SOME CAMPUS PROTESTERS CUT DEALS, CLAIM VICTORY

Some student activists who pitched tents and camped on university lawns to
protest Israel's military attacks in Gaza have begun to declare victory after
hammering out agreements with school administrators. Northwestern
University just outside Chicago became the first U.S. school to publicly
announce a deal on Monday. On Tuesday, Brown University protesters broke camp
after President Christina Paxson said the Rhode Island school will bring
divestment demands to a vote. Organizers hope the deals set a new precedent for
protest encampments around the U.S. and show a way to find common ground without
using force.

“What these students have done is truly, truly historical,” Summer Pappachen, a
graduate student and organizer of the Northwestern encampment, told USA TODAY on
Tuesday amid cleanup of the lawn students held for days. “We have been able to
achieve (our goals) while keeping students safe.”

− Michael Loria

Columbia building cleared:Police storm into building held by pro-Palestinian
protesters






WHAT ARE COLLEGE PROTESTS ACROSS THE US ABOUT?

The student protesters opposed to Israel's military attacks in Gaza say they
want their schools to stop funneling endowment money to Israeli companies and
other businesses, like weapons manufacturers, that profit from the war in Gaza.
In addition to divestment, protesters are calling for a cease-fire, and student
governments at some colleges have also passed resolutions in recent weeks
calling for an end to academic partnerships with Israel. The protesters also
want the U.S. to stop supplying funding and weapons to the war effort.

More recently, amnesty for students and professors involved in the protests has
become an issue. Protesters want protections amid threats of disciplinary action
and termination for those participating in demonstrations that violate campus
policy or local laws.

− Claire Thornton

Contributing: Reuters







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