Los Angeles: Protests are roiling college campuses across the US as upcoming graduation ceremonies are threatened by disruptive demonstrators, with students and others sparring over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and its mounting death toll.
Many campuses were largely quiet over the weekend as demonstrators stayed by tents erected as protest headquarters, although a few colleges saw forced removals and arrests. Many students are demanding their universities cut financial ties with Israel over the large-scale operation in Gaza it says was launched to stamp out the militant Palestinian group Hamas.
Protesters on both sides of the rancourous debate shouted and shoved each other during duelling demonstrations Sunday at the University of California, Los Angeles. The university stepped up security after “some physical altercations broke out among demonstrators”, Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a statement.
There were no reports of arrests or injuries.
About 275 people were arrested on Saturday at various campuses including Indiana University at Bloomington, Arizona State University and Washington University in St. Louis. The number of arrests nationwide approached 900 since New York police removed a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Columbia University and arrested more than 100 demonstrators on April 18.
The plight of students who have been arrested has become a central part of protests, with the students and a growing number of faculty demanding amnesty for protesters. At issue is whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students through their adult lives.
Faculty members at universities in California, Georgia and Texas have initiated or passed largely symbolic votes of no confidence in their leadership.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said President Joe Biden “knows that there are very strong feelings” but would leave managing the protests to local authorities.
“People should have the ability to air their views and to share their perspectives publicly but it has to be peaceful,” Kirby said on ABC’s ”This Week.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, in an interview that aired on Sunday, called it “a dangerous situation” and placed the responsibility with college administrators.
“There’s also antisemitism, which is completely unacceptable. I’ve been shocked to see that in this country,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press”.
The nationwide campus protests began as a response by some students to Israel’s offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7.
Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to
stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.