Anti-Israel protests have taken to the streets of Brooklyn and escalated at universities across the United States as demonstrators demand an end to civilian casualties in Gaza.
The protests of the past few days have been followed by mass arrests of demonstrators at some universities on the East Bank, and according to Reuters, they are a reflection of deep dissatisfaction in the United States, historically Israel's most important ally, with the way the war against Hamas is being conducted.
Pro-Palestinian protests have followed President Joe Biden, a self-proclaimed "Zionist," for months, Reuters points out. At universities, the protests have recently turned into camps of sorts that attract students and professors of various backgrounds, including those of the Jewish and Muslim faiths, who organize lectures, interfaith prayers and musical performances.
A large protest in the streets of Brooklyn on Tuesday was tense, to say the least, as the New York City Police Department began arresting people for disorderly conduct, detaining those who refused to move.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has criticized the use of police force to quell dissent, saying it undermines academic freedom.
Afaf Nasher, executive director of the Council in New York, said in a statement that it "includes the defamation and endangerment of Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian ... students based on suspicious inflammatory comments made by a few unidentified, masked individuals outside the university complex."
Critics of the protests, including prominent members of the US Congress, have stepped up accusations of anti-Semitism and harassment against some protesters. Activists for the protection of human rights have expressed concern about the arrest of protest participants.
"As a Palestinian student, I have not felt safe for the past six months, and this is a direct result of Colombia's unilateral announcements and passivity"
A heated exchange of insults has been taking place between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters, particularly on the streets around Columbia University, prompting congressional Republicans on Tuesday to demand that Biden do more to protect Jewish students.
Several protesters interviewed by Reuters attributed the incidents outside the university complex to provocateurs trying to take over the protest's message.
"There are no universities in Gaza anymore. Therefore, we decided to reclaim our university for the people of Palestine," said Sof Askanaze, a Jewish student at Columbia who was arrested and suspended for participating in the protests. "Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and racism, especially racism against Arabs and Palestinians are all part of the same milieu".
"When you are an Israeli student at this university, you feel like you have a target on your back, you feel unsafe, and it's no wonder that students from Israel are hesitant to come here"
Other students, speaking to the British agency, blamed the universities for failing to protect their right to protest or stand up for human rights.
"As a Palestinian student, I also did not feel safe for the past six months, and this is a direct result of Colombia's unilateral announcements and passivity," said Mahmoud Khalil.
Students at the University of California, Berkeley - a school known for student activism during the 1960s - set up tents in solidarity with protesters at other schools.
Milton Zerman, a 25-year-old law student at Berkeley, said Jewish and Israeli students have suffered from hate-motivated bullying.
"When you're an Israeli student at this university, you feel like you have a target on your back, you feel unsafe, and it's no wonder that students from Israel hesitate to come here," said Zerman.
NYPD arrested over 120 protesters at New York University on Monday and over 100 at Columbia University last Sunday. Columbia canceled classes in Upper Manhattan on Monday in an effort to ease tensions.
On Tuesday, it was announced that until the end of the year classes will take place in a so-called hybrid form, meaning that students will be able to attend live or online.
Later, the president of the university said it was time to implement a plan to remove the pro-Palestinian camp, and gave the organizers a deadline to do it themselves.
Cal Poly Humboldt, a state university in Arcata, was closed after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied a building on campus.
Police removed a camp from the University of Minnesota campus after the school requested action, citing violations of university policy and trespassing laws.
Some Jewish protesters said they were using the second night of the seven-day Passover holiday, when families gather to celebrate the biblical story of Israel's freedom from Egyptian slavery, to reaffirm their faith and distance themselves from the Israeli government's war strategy.
"I don't see what Israel is doing as self-defense. I see absolutely incredible violations of human rights," said 62-year-old Catherine Stern from New York, who participated in the protest in Brooklyn.
Protesters want university foundations to divest from Israeli interests and for the United States to end or at least condition military aid to Israel on improving the lot of the Palestinians.
Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7 and killed 1200 people and took dozens hostage, Israel claims. In the Israeli offensive, over 34 people have been killed, and almost the entire population of Gaza of 000 million people has been displaced in conditions of a humanitarian crisis, according to the Palestinian authorities.
In Brooklyn, about 2.000 people occupied a square near the home of Chuck Schumer, the US Senate majority leader, a strong supporter of Israel and the highest-ranking Jew in the US government. They chanted: "Stop arming Israel", "Stop financing genocide" and "Let Gaza live".
Organizers played music and songs from Jewish and other cultures, highlighting Canadian author Naomi Klein, a peace activist who uses her Jewish roots to argue against Zionism, which she calls a "false idol."
"We want freedom from the project that carries out genocide in our name," said Klajnova to applause. "We seek to dislodge Judaism from an ethno-state that wants the Jews to be permanently afraid...or run to its stronghold, or at least continue to send them arms and donations."
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