TEHRAN- Violent police clampdown on pro-Palestine protesters at American universities and colleges has pushed U.S. double standards towards free speech and democracy to the forefront of media debate.

Students in the U.S. have been protesting against Israel’s Gaza onslaught since the regime declared war on the besieged Palestinian territory on October 7.

But the demonstrations have intensified over the past week. 

They began to expand after New York police removed a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Columbia University on April 18 and arrested more than 100 people. 

Since then, students from Massachusetts to California have gathered on campuses, setting up encampments to vent their anger at Israel’s war of genocide on Gaza and police violence. 

Police have attacked protesters at Yale, New York University and some other elite colleges. They have taken down their tents and made mass arrests. 

Officials have accused demonstrators of antisemitism, an allegation that they flatly reject. 

Protesters demand that their schools stop business dealings with Israel or any companies that empower the regime’s war on Gaza.

 “The university should do something about what we’re asking for, about the genocide that’s happening in Gaza. They should stop investing in this genocide,” Columbia protest leader Mahmoud Khalil said, according to the Associated Press. 

Over the past weeks, student governments at some American colleges have passed resolutions. They have called for ending investments and academic partnerships with the regime which has slaughtered more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 7. 

However, their calls have fallen on deaf ears and recently met with police violence. 

Violation of free speech 

According to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression must be protected from government interference. 

The amendment prohibits any laws that establish a national religion, impede the free exercise of religion, abridge the freedom of speech, infringe upon the freedom of the press, interfere with the right to peaceably assemble, or prohibit citizens from petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. 

Undoubtedly, arresting students at college campuses violates the US Constitution because they have staged peaceful protests to have their voices heard. 

The US has violated freedom of speech and freedom of assembly to protect Israel. 

Police violence at universities also showed that the US has no scruples about abetting Israel’s genocide even at the expense of eroding its own democracy. 

The United States and some of its Western allies, particularly Britain, France and Germany, have accused other countries of violating human rights, suppressing dissent, and trampling democracy.  

However, mass arrests at college campuses have revealed what is behind the facade of US democracy. 

In Europe, some governments have adopted extreme measures to contain pro-Palestine protests.  

France and Germany have banned such demonstrations and cracked down on pro-Palestinian groups over the past six months. 

Germany has also outlawed slogans such as "From the river to the Sea, Palestine will be Free." 

The UK has accused pro-Palestinian protesters of antisemitism, although they have only called for ending the Gaza war and establishing an immediate ceasefire. 

Recent incidents at US college campuses and restrictions against pro-Palestine protests in Europe have turned the spotlight on the West’s hypocritical approach toward democracy and freedom of speech.