Iraq's al-Sadr declares support for US pro-Palestine student movement
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The leader of the Iraqi Sadrist movement denounces the police suppression of students in US universities protesting the Israeli genocide in Gaza and calling for "peace and freedom".
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Iraqi citizens wave a large Palestinian flag during a demonstration in the capital Baghdad in support of Palestine on 20 May 2021. (AFP)
The leader of the Iraqi Sadrist movement, Muqtada Al-Sadr, expressed support on Saturday for students in US universities protesting the Israeli genocide in Gaza, calling for police suppression of demonstrators to end.
"We call for a halt to the crackdown on voices advocating for peace and freedom," he said in a statement.
"The voice of American universities demanding an end to Zionist terrorism is our voice."
— مقتدى السيد Ù…Øمد الصدر (@Mu_AlSadr) April 27, 2024
Protestors continue to grow
Universities across the United States have witnessed in the past few weeks a historic surge in student protests in support of Palestine and Gaza, calling for ending all agreements with "Israel" and divesting from the occupation entity.
Students also demanded that the US - the largest military provider to "Israel" - terminate its support to the entity and involvement in the genocidal war.
Cross-country protests continue to grow as the Israeli genocide in Gaza reaches its 204th day. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza announced on Saturday that the number of Palestinians killed in the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Strip since October 7 has now reached 34,388, with 77,437 injured.
Read more: MIT, Emerson, other US colleges students launch pro-Palestine protests
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden described the protests as "antisemitic" and stressed that campuses must remain safe, hinting that current anti-Israeli war protests are a destabilizing factor.
Civil rights organizations have denounced the student arrests and called on authorities to uphold the right to free speech.
University senates stand by protestors
The President of Columbia University faced increased pressure on Friday as a campus oversight committee strongly condemned her administration's actions in suppressing a pro-Palestine demonstration in the school.
Read more: US pro-Palestine protests find their way to Europe despite crackdown
The Columbia University Senate passed a resolution following a Friday meeting, stating that Shafik's administration had eroded academic freedom and disregarded the privacy and due process rights of students and faculty members by involving the police and terminating the protest.
"The decision... has raised serious concerns about the administration's respect for shared governance and transparency in the university decision-making process," it said.
Similarly, the University of Texas at Austin's president, Jay Hartzell, encountered criticism from faculty members on Friday, following his collaboration with Republican Governor Greg Abbott in deploying police to disband a pro-Palestine demonstration two days earlier.
Dozens of protesters were arrested, but the Travis County Attorney's office stated that charges were dismissed due to a lack of probable cause for the arrests.
Close to 200 university faculty members penned a letter indicating a lack of confidence in Hartzell, citing his actions as "needlessly endangering" students, staff, and faculty when police, equipped with riot gear and mounted on horseback, intervened against the protesters.
