USA: 2300 People Arrested for Campus Protests
Meanwhile, demonstrations have spread to Europe and Australia
Protests over Gaza have been raging on major US university campuses for weeks. The number of arrests, judging by the scale of the problem, has reached 2300, while the protests have also spread to Europe, primarily France and Great Britain, as well as Australia. In the USA, more than 60 campuses are occupied, and police have intervened, wearing protective gear, at Columbia University and UCLA. Evictions from various occupied buildings and encampments set up by protesters from New York to California began a few days ago with many scenes of tension and clashes with police. There are implications for the normal course of events: Columbia University is apparently rethinking the graduation ceremony scheduled for May 15 that may be canceled for security reasons.
As Wired magazine notes, many students are demonstrating with their faces covered, unlike the large demonstrations of past decades. “The choice represents a clear break with previous generations of university activists, who gained power in part by showing their face publicly and risking their futures for a broader cause,” Wired explains. “Although they have actively picked up the legacy of the 1960s anti-war movement, today’s activists seem to be responding to a much more modern set of personal and economic risks.”
President Joe Biden is under pressure, as he is accused of not doing enough for the Palestinians, and he explained that the right to protest is sacred: “But not the right to wreak havoc and violence. There is no place here for incitement to hatred of any kind, be it anti-Semitism or Islamophobia.” According to the White House leader, “this is not a time for politics, but for clarity.” Meanwhile, Donald Trump outright threw himself into politics, explaining that “this is a revolution of the radical left… The danger comes not from the right, but from the left.”
And, as mentioned, the wave of protests has spread abroad as well, with protests in the last few hours breaking out in Paris, France, and in England – in London, Bristol, Newcastle, and universities in major cities, as well as in Australia, on the other side of the planet.
