What has happened?
Students at universities around the United States have set up tent camps on university campuses in protest of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Several universities state that the protesters’ tent camps violate the university’s rules and that they are classified as illegal gatherings. School management has therefore called in the police to get the students to leave the area. It has increased tensions at the demonstrations and violent scenes have taken place. So far, more than 1,600 people have been arrested.
There have also been counter-demonstrations in support of Israel and those taken hostage by the terror-labeled Hamas.
Photo: Etienne Laurent/AFP
When did the student protests begin?
The mass protests gained momentum after hundreds of students at Columbia University in New York set up a tent camp on campus on Wednesday, April 17. The students demanded that the school free itself from companies that they claim are profiting from Israel’s warfare in Gaza.
The next day, the police tried to clear the university area of protesters and arrested more than 100 people, writes Sky News. It was the starting point for the wave of protests against schools that in recent weeks has spread across the United States and to the rest of the world.
Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP
Why are the students protesting?
The exact demands of the protesters vary between different universities. But the overall demand is that the students want their university to cut all financial ties to Israel and companies that the students believe support Israel’s warfare in Gaza. Among other things, by selling their shares in Israeli companies, writes the BBC.
The demonstrators believe that companies that do business with Israel, or with Israeli organizations, are complicit in the war in Gaza – as well as universities that invest in the companies.
Photo: Andy Barton/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Where are the student protests taking place?
The student protests have spread to about 40 universities in the United States. The demonstrations at Columbia University in New York and the University of California in Los Angeles have received the most attention.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have also gathered on university campuses in Australia, Canada, France, Italy and the UK.
