Student protests grow in US

Arrests continued at colleges across the United States after students refused to end their protests against the Israel-Gaza war – part of a surge of demonstrations and encampments that have exacerbated already tense emotions on campuses.

At the University of Minnesota, police moved in during the early morning, arrested nine people and cleared tents in a grassy expanse by the main library. That followed the arrest of 120 protesters at New York University, according to the New York Police Department.

The developments at those two schools mirrored scenes at Columbia University last week and Yale University on Monday. On the West Coast, California State Polytechnic University at Humboldt went into a lockdown after student protesters barricaded themselves inside a building.

At Columbia, where the latest wave of campus unrest began, the university sent an email to staff and students requiring many classes at its Morningside main campus to be hybrid where possible for the rest of the semester. “Safety is our highest priority as we strive to support our students’ learning,” it said.

College leaders are facing intense scrutiny over whether they are doing enough to protect students, faculty and staff against alleged antisemitism and other bias since the deadly October 7 Hamas attack in Israel and the subsequent conflict that has decimated Gaza – even as they confront scathing criticism from those who say they are denying students’ right to speak out.

At the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus, senior Merlin Van Alstine said protesters were inspired by what had happened at Yale, NYU and Columbia. They felt emboldened to escalate their demands that the university divest from Israel, cut all ties with Israeli universities and stop permitting weapons companies to recruit engineering students.

“We decided to set up our own encampments because the university is not listening.” – Washington Post