US pro-Palestine protests find their way to Europe despite crackdown
5 Min Read
Pro-Palestine protests are spreading to Europe in support of protests on US college campuses.
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Police move to arrest pro-Palestine supporters blocking the road after the Emerson College camp was cleared. (AFP)
More than 100 individuals were detained at Emerson College in Boston on Wednesday during a pro-Palestine rally, according to the Boston Police Department.
According to John Boyle of the Boston Police Department, 108 individuals were arrested and four policemen were hurt during the arrests.
The New York Times writer Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs shared footage of the protesters on X.
UPDATE: Boston Police say they arrested 108 people at the Emerson College protest last night.
— Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs (@NickAtNews) April 25, 2024
It is not immediately clear how many were students. https://t.co/UMaZET8BHr
According to social media posts from Emerson Students for Justice in Palestine, more than 100 people have been detained.
Officers in riot gear approached demonstrators overnight, according to video from CNN affiliate WHDH. The situation has now been cleared, according to the affiliate video.
Emerson College President Jay Bernhardt and other school administrators wrote a letter to students on Wednesday, stating that the campsite put up days earlier violated local law.
According to the letter, "Emerson College has previously communicated the information we received from the City of Boston about ordinance violations to the protestors on multiple occasions over several days."
The letter expressed that the college supported the right to protest but called for doing so in a "manner consistent with the laws of the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."
"Our utmost priority is the safety and welfare of our community, and we are deeply concerned that the protesters are risking legal consequences beyond Emerson's control when they do not abide by city and state laws."
French police break up pro-Palestine university protest
In Paris, French police broke up a pro-Palestine rally by dozens of university students on Thursday, as protests swept US college campuses.
According to the management, police intervened on Wednesday evening as dozens of students gathered on the famous Sciences Po University's central Paris campus.
University officials told AFP that "after discussions with management, most of them agreed to leave the premises," citing that the protest was adding to "tensions" at the university.
The statement explained that a "small group of students" refused to vacate the premises and the administration decided to allow police to interfere.
Sciences Po expressed regret that "numerous attempts" to have students leave the campus quietly had failed and police prefecture reported that students had mimicked American students by placing tents.
Police reported that 50 students left "on their own," and "70 were evacuated calmly" before the police left at 1:30 am with no further incidents.
Demonstrators were demanding that Sciences Po "cut ties with universities and companies that are complicit in the genocide in Gaza" and "end the repression of pro-Palestinian voices on campus."
Sciences Po 'refuses to engage in dialogue'
The Palestine Committee of Sciences Po planned the demonstration and the group reported that the Sciences Po administration "stubbornly refuses to engage in genuine dialogue."
Separately, the Student Union of Sciences Po Paris stated that university authorities' decision to send in the police was "both shocking and deeply worrying" and indicated "an unprecedented authoritarian turn."
Rassemblement pour la paix et la justice, contre la censure Place de La Sorbonne ! pic.twitter.com/VKtIUjvMq0
— Jeunes Insoumis IDF (@JInsoumis_IDF) April 25, 2024
Protests have erupted at numerous major US colleges in recent weeks, with some students upset by the war on Gaza and the humanitarian situation.
France has the world's largest Jewish population after "Israel" and the US, as well as Europe's largest Muslim minority.
Action pour la Paix, la justice et #ContreLaCensure devant la Sorbonne où Macron doit prononcer son discours sur l'Europe 💥 pic.twitter.com/ZlPSiXaBdg
— Les Jeunes Insoumis·es (@InsoumisJeunes) April 25, 2024
In Ireland, Martha Ní Riada, the president of the University College Dublin Students' Union, was thrown out of an event organized by Nancy Pelosi for representing the views of students.
I was thrown out with excessive force from Nancy Pelosi's honorary doctorate of law @ucddublin earlier today for representing the views of students as @UCDSU President. Why does UCD continue to platform Zionist warmongers whilst silencing students? pic.twitter.com/ExqDWzsV3v
— Martha Ní Riada (@MarthaReidy) April 22, 2024
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mirror, the Student Union President said she called Pelosi a "Zionist and a war criminal. There was more that I wanted to say as representing students, we denounce this honorary degree; it is not reflective of students' wishes, and she should not be celebrated in this way."
Security then grabbed her and forcibly removed her from the event. Although she expected to be asked to leave after making her remarks, she did not anticipate security physically restraining her the way they did.
During the ceremony, Ní Ríada said that up to 150 students protested outside and their chants could be heard inside.
The Students' Union urged the institution not to reward Pelosi, who has been chastised for asking the FBI to investigate pro-Palestine activists after implying they may have ties to Russia.
Pro-Palestine protest movement growing despite campus crackdowns in US
Dozens of students, alongside faculty staff and media personnel, were arrested on Wednesday while participating in pro-Palestine demonstrations at various US college campuses.
At least 34 students, including a member of the media from a local news station, were arrested during protests at the University of Texas in Austin, and at least 50 more were detained by police at the University of Southern California (USC).
State troopers attack an anti-genocide protest at the University of Texas.
— Seyed Mohammad Marandi (@s_m_marandi) April 24, 2024
This is the "land of the free." pic.twitter.com/Lmh1au7KNg
These arrests occurred amid a series of demonstrations at campuses across the US, which began last week after students at Columbia University in New York established encampments demanding the university divest from weapons manufacturers with ties to "Israel". These protests have resulted in numerous suspensions and the arrest of hundreds of students in New York and other cities.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at US universities faced predictable accusations of anti-semitism amid their protests.
In this context, House speaker Mike Johnson entered the scene on Wednesday with a visit to Columbia University's campus, where he was met with jeers from pro-Palestinian protesters.
Johnson criticized the protests as "mob rule" and condemned what he referred to as a "virus of antisemitism" across colleges nationwide.
