Campus anti-war protesters dig in from New York to California as universities and police take action

NEW YORK -- From New York to California, students protesting the Israel-Hamas warfare slept successful tents astatine assemblage campuses, arsenic immoderate universities moved to unopen down encampments and arrested dozens of demonstrators aft reports of antisemitic activity.

With the decease toll mounting successful the warfare successful Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding schools chopped fiscal ties to Israel and divest from companies they accidental alteration the conflict. Some Jewish students accidental the protests person veered into antisemitism and made them acrophobic to acceptable ft connected campus.

At Columbia University successful New York City, wherever aboriginal protests sparked pro-Palestinian demonstrations crossed the country, students and administrators person engaged successful negotiations, the assemblage said successful a connection Saturday night.

“Dialogue betwixt assemblage officials and pupil organizers is ongoing. We privation to beryllium clear: There is nary information to claims of an impending lockdown oregon evictions connected campus,” the Columbia administration's connection said.

Though the assemblage repeatedly acceptable and past pushed backmost deadlines for the removal of the encampment, the schoolhouse sent an email to students saying that bringing backmost constabulary “at this time” would beryllium counterproductive.

Decisions to telephone successful instrumentality enforcement, starring to hundreds of arrests nationwide, person prompted schoolhouse module members astatine universities successful California, Georgia and Texas to initiate oregon walk votes of nary assurance successful their leadership. They are mostly symbolic rebukes, without the powerfulness to region their presidents.

Washington University successful St. Louis locked immoderate field buildings and arrested protesters Saturday. The St. Louis Police Department said successful a societal media station that it assisted field police, though metropolis officers did not marque immoderate arrests.

The Riverfront Times, a St. Louis play newspaper, reported much than 80 radical were arrested during the protestation that began successful nationalist areas earlier moving to the field successful the afternoon. Megan Green, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, said successful a societal media station that she was contiguous and the protestation remained calm “until the constabulary came successful similar an ambush.”

Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein said successful a societal media station that she and 2 of her run managers were among those arrested connected the Washington University campus.

The University of Southern California said connected Saturday it had temporarily closed its University Park Campus to nonresidents, without providing details of the closure oregon imaginable enforcement measures.

Joel Curran, elder vice president of communications, said successful a connection that USC spot was vandalized by members of a radical “that has continued to illegally campy connected our campus,” arsenic good arsenic disrupting operations and harrassing students and others.

Students declined galore attempts by assemblage President Carol Folt to meet, and the medication hopes for “a much tenable effect Sunday earlier we are forced to instrumentality further action,” Curran said.

“While the assemblage afloat supports state of expression, these acts of vandalism and harassment are perfectly unacceptable and volition not beryllium tolerated,” Curran said.

In Boston, constabulary successful riot cogwheel cleared an encampment connected the field of Northeastern University connected Saturday. Massachusetts State Police said astir 102 protesters were arrested and volition beryllium charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct. Protesters said they were fixed astir 15 minutes to disperse earlier being arrested.

As workers pulled down tents and bagged up the debris from the encampment, respective twelve radical crossed from the encampment chanted, “Let the Kids Go," and slogans against the warfare successful Gaza. They besides booed arsenic constabulary cars passed and taunted the officers who stood guard.

Northeastern said successful a connection that the demonstration, which began 2 days ago, had go “infiltrated by nonrecreational organizers” with nary affiliation to the assemblage and antisemitic slurs, including “kill the Jews,” had been used.

“We cannot tolerate this benignant of hatred connected our campus,” the connection posted connected societal media said.

The Huskies for a Free Palestine pupil radical disputed the university’s account, saying successful a connection that counterprotesters were to blasted for the slurs and nary pupil protesters “repeated the disgusting hatred speech.”

Students astatine the Boston protestation said a counterprotester attempted to instigate hatred code but insisted their lawsuit was peaceful and, similar galore crossed the country, was aimed astatine drafting attraction to what they described arsenic the “genocide” successful Gaza and their university’s complicity successful the war.

The president of adjacent Massachusetts Institute of Technology said successful a connection Saturday that an encampment determination had go a “potential magnet for disruptive extracurricular protesters” and was taking hundreds of unit hours to support safe.

“We person a work to the full MIT assemblage — and it is not imaginable to safely prolong this level of effort,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said. “We are unfastened to further treatment astir the means of ending the encampment. But this peculiar signifier of look needs to extremity soon.”

Indiana University field officers and authorities constabulary arrested 23 radical Saturday astatine an encampment connected the school’s Bloomington campus. Tents and canopies were erected Friday astatine Dunn Meadow successful usurpation of schoolhouse policy, assemblage constabulary said successful a release. Group members were detained aft refusing to region the structures with charges ranging from transgression trespass to resisting instrumentality enforcement, constabulary said.

Arizona State University said 69 radical were arrested aboriginal Saturday connected suspicion of transgression trespassing for mounting up an unauthorized encampment connected a tract connected its Tempe campus. The protesters were fixed chances to permission and those who refused were arrested.

“While the assemblage volition proceed to beryllium an situation that embraces state of speech, ASU’s archetypal precedence is to make a harmless and unafraid situation that supports teaching and learning,” the assemblage said successful a statement.

The tensions person piled unit connected schoolhouse officials, who are scrambling to resoluteness the protests arsenic May graduation ceremonies near.

USC drew disapproval aft refusing to let the valedictorian, who has publically supported Palestinians, to marque a commencement speech. Administrators past scrapped the keynote code by filmmaker Jon M. Chu. The schoolhouse connected Thursday announced the cancellation of its main graduation event, a time aft much than 90 protesters were arrested by constabulary successful riot gear.

Folt, the assemblage president, made her archetypal nationalist connection precocious Friday, addressing the controversies arsenic “incredibly hard for each of us.”

“No 1 wants to person radical arrested connected their campus. Ever. But, erstwhile long-standing information policies are flagrantly violated, buildings vandalized, Department of Public Safety directives repeatedly ignored, threatening connection shouted, radical assaulted, and entree to captious world buildings blocked, we indispensable enactment instantly to support our community,” Folt said.

The nationwide field protests began successful effect to Israel's violative successful Gaza. Hamas launched a deadly onslaught connected confederate Israel connected Oct. 7, erstwhile militants killed astir 1,200 people, astir of them civilians, and took astir 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp retired Hamas, Israel launched an violative successful Gaza. In the ensuing war, Israel has killed much than 34,000 Palestinians successful the Gaza Strip, according to the section wellness ministry.

Israel and its supporters person branded the assemblage protests arsenic antisemitic, portion critics of Israel accidental it uses specified allegations to soundlessness opponents. Although immoderate protesters person been caught connected camera making antisemitic remarks oregon convulsive threats, organizers of the protests, immoderate of whom are Jewish, accidental it is simply a peaceful question aimed astatine defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.

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Perry reported from Meredith, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists successful assorted locations contributed, including Jacques Billeaud, Aaron Morrison, Stefanie Dazio, Kathy McCormack, Jim Vertuno, Acacia Coronado, Sudhin Thanawala, Jeff Amy, Jeff Martin, Mike Stewart, Collin Binkley, Carolyn Thompson, Jake Offenhartz, Jesse Bedayn and Sophia Tareen.