Police enforcement intensified across the United States over the weekend with at least 900 arrests made amidst the burgeoning campus protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza. In Boston, tensions flared as police detained approximately 100 individuals following the establishment of a Palestine solidarity encampment at Northeastern University. The university defended its actions by citing alleged “virulent antisemitic slurs” uttered during the protest, attributing them to the encampment participants. However, subsequent video footage and eyewitness testimonies contradicted this narrative, revealing that the antisemitic chants originated from a counterprotester brandishing an Israeli flag. Huskies for a Free Palestine, the organizing group, denounced the university’s response as a distortion of facts and a pretext for the aggressive arrest of over 100 students.
Similar scenes unfolded in St. Louis, where over 80 people were arrested at a pro-Palestinian encampment at Washington University, among them Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. Meanwhile, at Arizona State University, police intervened to dismantle an encampment on Alumni Lawn, resulting in approximately 70 arrests on Friday. In Indiana, 33 individuals were arrested by state police as they dispersed an encampment on the Bloomington campus of Indiana State University.
Despite the crackdown by law enforcement, momentum for campus encampments continues to grow, as seen at institutions like CUNY, the City University of New York. Shak Alsogdiy articulated the ongoing demands of protesters, emphasizing transparency in CUNY’s investments and calling for an end to harassment and doxxing of students and workers advocating for Palestine.
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