Gaza war: Pro-Palestinian protests sweep US varsities
The protests have pitted students against one another, with pro-Palestinian students demanding that their schools condemn Israel’s assault on Gaza
NEW YORK/GAZA STRIP: Columbia cancelled in-person classes, dozens of protesters were arrested at New York University and Yale, and the gates to Harvard Yard were closed to the public on Monday as some of the most prestigious US universities sought to defuse campus tensions over Israel’s war with Hamas. More than 130 people were arrested overnight during pro-Palestinian protests at the New York University campus.
The bastions of higher education — Harvard, Yale, Columbia and others — are grappling for a balance between students demanding free speech rights and others who argue that campuses are encouraging intimidation and hate speech.
“Anti-semitic hate on college campuses is unacceptable,” US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona posted on X on Tuesday, expressing concern about the unrest.
The protests began last week at Columbia University, also in New York, with a large group of demonstrators establishing a so-called “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on school grounds.
But more than 100 protesters were arrested after university authorities called the police onto Columbia’s campus on Thursday, a move that seemingly escalated tensions and sparked a greater turnout over the weekend. Social media images late on Monday appeared to show proPalestinian Jewish students holding traditional seder meals inside the protest areas on campuses including at Columbia.
There were also demonstrations at MIT, the University of Michigan, UC Berkeley and Yale, where at least 47 people were arrested on Monday after refusing requests to disperse.
The protests have pitted students against one another, with pro-Palestinian students demanding that their schools condemn Israel’s assault on Gaza and divest from companies that sell weapons to Israel. However, some Jewish students say much of the criticism of Israel has veered into anti-semitism and made them feel unsafe, and they point out that Hamas is still holding hostages taken during the group’s October 7 invasion.
Iranian prez threatens to annihilate Israel
An Israeli attack on Iranian territory could radically change dynamics and result in there being nothing left of the “Zionist regime”, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the official IRNA news agency.
Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel on April 13 in what it said was retaliation for Israel’s suspected deadly strike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1, but almost all were shot down. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will honourably continue to support the Palestinian resistance,” Raisi added in the speech in Lahore, during his three-day visit to Pakistan.
Israeli strikes intensify across Gaza Strip
Israeli strikes intensified across Gaza on Tuesday in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, pounding the north from where the Israeli army had previously drawn down its troops, residents said. Strikes by air and shelling from tanks on the ground were also reported in central and southern areas in what residents said were almost non-stop bombardments.
Overnight tanks made a new incursion east of Beit Hanoun on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, though they did not penetrate far into the city, residents and Hamas media said. Gunfire reached some schools causing panic among displaced residents sheltering there.
In Israel, where government offices and businesses were shut to celebrate the Jewish Passover holiday, incoming rocket alerts sounded in southern border towns, although no casualties were reported.
Israel says it is seeking to eradicate Hamas, which controls the enclave, following an attack by the militant group on October 7, killing 1,200 and taking 253 hostages by Israeli tallies.
Across the Gaza Strip, Israel’s military strikes killed 32 Palestinians and wounded 59 others in the past 24 hours, Palestinian health authorities said.
They say more than 34,000 people have been confirmed killed in the seven-month war, with thousands more bodies as yet unrecovered.