WH urges 'peaceful' protests despite police deployment for crackdown
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Arrests made across several universities were in the hundreds, with some including the use of tasers, rubber bullets, and tear gas.
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People listen to a speaker at a pro-Palestinian encampment inside the campus of Columbia University, on Sunday, April 28, 2024, in New York. (AP)
The White House urged on Sunday pro-Palestine protests across US universities witnessing an uproar for the past few weeks, to stay peaceful - but this comes after police across the country arrested over 275 people on four separate campuses just over the weekend.
Speaking to ABC's This Week, National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said, "We certainly respect the right of peaceful protests," adding, "We absolutely condemn the anti-Semitism language that we've heard of late and certainly condemn all the hate speech and the threats of violence out there."
The arrests were made across different US universities, including Columbia in New York, USC in California, Northeastern University in Boston, Washington University in St. Louis, Arizona State University, and Indiana University.
Around 900 people were arrested over the past 10 days at pro-Palestinian demonstrations held on the campuses of some of the nation's largest universities, The Washington Post reported.
According to the newspaper, the detentions were the largest law enforcement response to student-led protests “in recent years,” which The Post said threatens police with “myriad potential challenges.”
The police arrests included tactics such as chemical irritants, tasers, and rubber-coated bullets used to oppress protesters expressing solidarity with Palestine amid the ongoing Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, now on its 206th day.
Read more: Pro-Palestinian protests at US colleges persist amid police crackdown
Jill Stein, a presidential candidate, was among those arrested at Washington University in St. Louis on Saturday, as stated by her campaign's communications director, who also mentioned that they are currently unaware of any charges against her.
She attended the protest to show solidarity with students who had established an encampment and declared their intention to remain until Washington University met various demands, including divestment from Boeing and boycotting Israeli academic institutions.
Stein told CNN before her arrest Saturday, "This is about freedom of speech... on a very critical issue," noting, "And there they are, sending in the riot police and basically creating a riot."
Encampments have been the venue of multiple forms of protests such as teach-ins (which began in the 1960s Vietnam protests), dances, and poetry readings, while other students were seen completing assignments and painting.
Side-switching Shafik
Columbia University President Nemat 'Minouche' Shafik summoned the NYPD to the campus to disperse the demonstrations and arrest students - a pure violation of the First Amendment.
On Friday, Shafik issued an ultimatum to student protesters: either negotiate an agreement with the administration to disband the encampment or the school would pursue alternative measures to dismantle it. However, the demonstrators remained steadfast in their demands, with new supporters swelling their ranks.
The Columbia University Senate passed a resolution following a 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.
Read more: Over 1,400 academics boycotting Columbia over student arrests
"The decision... has raised serious concerns about the administration's respect for shared governance and transparency in the university decision-making process," it said.
The Senate, predominantly comprising faculty members and other staff with a minority representation of students, refrained from explicitly mentioning Shafik in its resolution and opted for a less severe tone than a censure. The president, also a member of the Senate, did not attend.
Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang stated that the administration shared the Senate's objective of restoring calm to the campus and was dedicated to maintaining an ongoing dialogue.
In a shocking turn of events, NYPD Chief John Chell revealed that the University's President Shafik called the police after calling the demonstration a “clear and present danger.”
“To put this in perspective, the students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner," he said.
Students across the US are rewriting history, just like those before them decades ago. These students are rewriting history to break free of colonial rhetoric and fight the war on Gaza through their pens and their voices. Instead of battlegrounds, they're fighting for the liberation of Gaza on their campuses.
