Protests against the war in the Gaza Strip are spreading in the US universities / Article

The protests began last week at the prestigious Columbia University in New York. Dozens of students pitched tents on campus to show support for the Palestinians and condemn Israel.

After the protesters did not comply with the university president’s demand to remove the tents, the police arrived at the makeshift camp and arrested more than 100 demonstrators.

The involvement of the police further inflamed Columbia University students, who announced they would continue their protests and demanded the resignation of the university’s leadership.

On the other hand, the chairman of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, who visited Columbia University this week, accused the protesters of anti-Semitism and supporting the Palestinian terrorist group “Hamas”.

In solidarity with Columbia University students, students from other US universities also started similar protest actions. And this week, protests are taking place at universities across the United States. Meanwhile, police have detained dozens of protesters demanding Israel end military operations in Gaza and agree to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

The protesters are also demanding that the universities sell the shares they own in companies that cooperate with the Israeli government. Among these companies are the US technology giants Amazon, Google and Microsoft, as well as the arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

“We want the university to disclose data about its financial investments and stop working with financial institutions. And we want the university to admit and assure students that there is a genocide against our families in Gaza,” a Palestinian student at the University of Southern California told PBS .

White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said the US presidential administration supports the right to peaceful protest, but hate speech is not tolerated.

“But when it comes to hateful rhetoric, when it comes to violence, we have to reject that. And we’ve done that consistently throughout this administration. We have to reject hateful, violent rhetoric. But we want to make sure that people have the opportunity protest peacefully,” said Jean-Pierre.

Many Jewish students and faculty in the United States report an increase in anti-Semitic and hateful attacks against them in the past week.

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, commenting on the protests, announced that leading US universities have been taken over by “anti-Semitic mobs”, who are calling for the destruction of Israel and targeting Jewish students and teachers.

“This is reminiscent of what happened at German universities in the 1930s. It is unacceptable. It must be stopped. It must be condemned unequivocally. The response of several university chancellors was shameful. Now, thankfully, state, local and federal officials have reacted differently. But more needs to be done. Israel is trying to defend itself against the terrorists, who are hiding behind civilians. But it is Israel who is falsely accused of genocide, of starving people to death, and of all the other crimes,” Netanyahu said.