By EFE
Apr 28, 2024, 9:48 PM EDT
Student protests against the war in Gaza spread over the weekend to dozens of universities across the United States, leading to hundreds of arrests and clashes between protesters and law enforcement.
The demonstrations, which began at Columbia University in New York and spread to campuses in dozens of states, including Georgia, Indiana, California and Texas, have in common the rejection of US policy towards Israel and the request that the centers educational institutions to break relations with the Israeli government and private sector.
The young people have decided to set up camps in the university facilities, which has led to tensions with the institutions, since many of them claim that this protest model violates their policies and have ordered evictions.
On Saturday afternoon, more than 200 students were arrested in evictions at Northeastern universities in Boston, Massachusetts, Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona, Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, and Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri.
In Missouri, the presidential candidate for the independent Green Party, Jill Stein, was detained by authorities during the eviction in which about 80 people were detained, according to the university in a statement.
The university plans to file charges of “burglary” against all those detained in Saint Louis and some “may even be charged with resisting arrest and assault” on police officers, the statement detailed.
In Boston, the police arrested more than a hundred people after clearing a student camp that had been established since last Thursday.
The Massachusetts State Police announced that they will file charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct against those arrested. For its part, the university said it will “take disciplinary action” against some of the students.
In Arizona, the arrests took place late Friday night, when police entered a camp and detained more than 70 people. The university accused the protesters of trespassing on private property and noted that most “were not part of the student body or faculty.”
Indiana University, for its part, ordered the evacuation of an encampment Saturday afternoon, leading state police to arrest more than 20 people who also face charges of trespassing and resisting arrest.
The White House has not commented this weekend on the protests. On Monday, President Joe Biden condemned what he called “anti-Semitic demonstrations” on universities and rejected “those who do not understand what is happening in Palestine.”
The majority of Americans disagree with the handling that the Democratic government is giving to the war in Gaza: according to a survey also published this Sunday by CNN, 71% of citizens disapprove of the president’s policy in this conflict.
This figure is even higher among young voters, with 81% of respondents under the age of 35 opposing Biden’s actions.
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