Police Arrest Over 2,000 Pro-Palestinian Protesters Across US Varsities
Police have arrested over 2,000 people following the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests across dozens of US college and university campuses in recent weeks.
Reports also said that more than 300 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested on college campuses on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, pushing the total past 2,000, according to an Associated Press (AP) tally.
At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), about 200 students were also picked up as law enforcement dismantled a fortified encampment, with more than 90 students arrested at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
While dozens more were arrested at the University of New Hampshire and the University of Buffalo, reports also indicated that in Oregon, police moved into the school’s library on Thursday, which has been occupied by demonstrators since Monday, April 29, 2024.
“We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent”, the US President Joe Biden was quoted as saying, adding; “But order must prevail. Violent protest is not protected – peaceful protest is”.
President Biden, who criticized what he called “violent” protests, further said in a brief statement on Thursday morning that; “Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations – none of this is a peaceful protest”.
“There’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos,” the US president said. In response to a reporter’s question, he said he did not think it was the right time to call the National Guard.
Meanwhile, in a Thursday report, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project said that although some clashes have broken out, “the overwhelming majority [of protests] – 99% – have remained peaceful”.
The protests are part of a movement to force schools to divest from businesses that support the war in Gaza, and they reflect how the war has become a major flashpoint in US politics.
According to statistics released by the Gaza Health Ministry, over 34,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began a campaign to dismantle Hamas, with more people being thrust into near starvation because Israel has limited food aid to the area.
Arising from the 7th October 2023 attack in which Hamas killed over 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages from Israel, the United States (US) has provided substantial military support to Israel, including most recently in a $15bn aid package since the campaign against Hamas began