TEHRAN - Pro-Palestinian demonstrations at US universities show no sign of abating despite police crackdown and growing threats made by college administrators.

Students across universities in the US have been protesting against Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since the regime declared war on the territory on October 7. 

College campus demonstrations began to snowball after New York police removed a protest encampment at Columbia University and arrested more than 100 on April 18. Students at dozens of universities have set up encampments over the past two weeks to express solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza. 

Police have arrested at least 900 students, university employees and faculty members during violent confrontations with protesters since April 18. 

On Sunday, students set up a new encampment on Yale University’s campus in the northeastern state of Connecticut. A week earlier, police broke up a protest camp at the university and arrested nearly four dozen students. 

On Saturday, police arrested nearly 300 people during protests at Northeastern University in Boston, Arizona State University in Phoenix, Indiana University Bloomington, and Washington University in St Louis.  

At Washington University, Megan Green, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, said she was present and the protest remained calm “until the police came in like an ambush.”

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and two of her campaign managers were among the detainees. 

Demands of demonstrators 

The demonstrators have asked universities to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s brutal war on Gaza which has claimed the lives of more than 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children in the near seven-month period. Likewise, they have demanded that their educational institutions cut academic ties and collaborations with Israeli universities and programs. Furthermore, the protesters want more financial transparency about university investments. Moreover, they have called for ending the US military aid to the regime and a complete ceasefire in Gaza. 

Besides, the demonstrators are seeking the release of students who have been arrested by police and have been threatened with suspensions and criminal charges. 

Absurd allegation

US officials, however, have accused the protesters of antisemitism. 

“There’s also antisemitism, which is completely unacceptable. I’ve been shocked to see that in this country,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Protesters, among whom Jewish students, reject antisemitism allegations arguing that such claims are made to silence opponents. 

The Missouri chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has denounced the arrests as “heavy-handed”.

It said students “must be allowed to exercise their First Amendment rights and to oppose Israel’s genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced starvation in Gaza”.

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. 

College protests against Israel’s war on Gaza have spread to universities in Canada, Europe and Australia.

Paris protest

Students at France’s Sorbonne University rallied on Monday to show their opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza. 

 “Free Palestine!” the students chanted while others dug in tents in the courtyard of the university based in Paris.

Mathilde Panot, who heads the left LFI group of lawmakers in the National Assembly, called supporters to join the Sorbonne protests on social media.

Last week, student staged a protest at another Parisian institute, Sciences Po.  

Montreal march 

Protests on US campuses also spilled over to Canada. 

At the weekend, students pitched an encampment at McGill University in Montreal. This was the first of its kind in Canada in line with the protest movement in the United States. 

The demonstrators demanded that the university “divest from funds implicated in the Zionist state as well as [cut] ties with Zionist academic institutions”, according to Al Jazeera. 

Australia advocacy 

Students from universities in Australia have also pitched tents at campuses to express solidarity with Palestine.

They have set up makeshift encampments in the grounds of at least three of Australia’s most prominent universities. 

The Australian Jewish Council has denied allegations these protests are antisemitic. 

“Attempting to silence or censor these protests by deceitfully accusing them of antisemitism is a dangerous overreach that if acted upon, risks stifling free speech on campuses.

Universities must be places where diverse perspectives can be voiced and debated openly,” the council said. 

In a statement it added, “We should be proud of all of the students, many of whom are Jewish, who are speaking out against this unfolding genocide,” Elizabeth Strakosch, executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, said.

“The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental democratic freedom that universities should uphold and defend. The student protests against the unfolding genocide in Gaza are legitimate expressions of political speech and human rights advocacy,” the statement read. 

The United States and some of its Western allies regard themselves as the world’s leading democracies and defenders of human rights. They also lecture other countries to respect freedom of speech and the right to protest. However, clampdowns on protesters who want to express their opposition to Israel’s brutal onslaught against Gaza, have cast doubt on such human rights claims.