Iraqi students protest in support of Gaza, US uni protests
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Students and professors rallied at a university in Baghdad today and held banners calling for a "free Palestine."
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Protesters chant slogans while waving Iraqi and Palestinian flags to show support for Palestinians in Gaza and to condemn Israeli attacks during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 30, 2024. (AP)
At a college campus in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, dozens of Iraqi university students and professors rallied today in solidarity with Gaza and the pro-Palestine protests in US universities, an AFP correspondent reported.
Earlier this week, Iraqi Education Minister Naeem al-Aboudi expressed his support for the "free voices in universities" around the world and called for protests in solidarity with Gaza.
At Al-Nahrian University, the students waved the Palestinian and Iraqi flags. Students and professors also held banners calling for a "free Palestine", with some wearing the Koufiyyeh scarf, a symbol of the Palestinian cause.
A student, Aya Kader said, "With all that is happening to our people in Gaza... of course I must be among the first to come to raise our voice."
"It is very positive to see the Palestinian flag being waved at American universities," she emphasized.
Weeks-long pro-Palestinian protests that have swept campuses across the United States have "encouraged us", she added.
The head of the engineering faculty, Professor Jomaa Salman said, "We are here to tell them to stop the killing and to thank the free voices around the world."
"If the storming of Columbia University had happened in another country, especially in a third-world country, they would have moved heaven on earth," he added.
On May 1, the Iraqi embassy in Washington urged "restraint, calm, respect for human rights and peaceful expression" amid the ongoing pro-Palestine protests at US campuses.
Police crackdown continues against pro-Palestine students in the US
On May 1, police raided and tore down a student encampment on the campus of the University of Texas, leading to the arrests of dozens of students protesting "Israel's" genocide in the Gaza Strip and their universities' complicit role.
At Fordham University, several students were arrested at a campus encampment following a police crackdown. Law enforcement was also deployed on standby near Columbia University following an earlier round of arrests against students.
Following a warning from the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology threatening students who were protesting with disciplinary measures should they fail to shut down their on-campus encampment, protesters dug in, blocking an avenue in center-campus during rush hour.
At the University of California, Los Angeles, police patrolled the vicinity after pro-"Israel" mobs attacked a peaceful pro-Palestine encampment.
Moreover, at the University of Texas at Dallas, 17 pro-Palestine students were arrested by police amid an encampment crackdown under charges of "trespassing", the university administration said in a statement.
