The evacuation of Columbia University in the United States, in New York, ended with about 300 detainees. After protests that lasted a few weeks, the police ended up storming the famous Hamilton Hall building to put an end to the protests. Closed, led by pro-Palestinian students. The camp was also dismantled.
The police action took place on Tuesday evening, after days in which tensions rose on campuses across the country with student protests. They condemn the Biden government's support for Israel and the complicity of educational centers.
Columbia students – the epicenter of the demonstrations – had occupied Hamilton Hall just a few hours earlier, and were evicted by police, which led to dozens of arrests in the first place. It ended with the arrest of nearly 300 people. The university stated in a statement that, after learning of the occupation, it informed the police, considering that the matter had become outside the scope of its jurisdiction.
In addition, they demand the police To remain on campus until May 17, Two days after graduation, “to maintain order and ensure that the camps do not reopen.”
A few hours after the evacuation, violent clashes broke out between pro-Palestinian college students and pro-Israel demonstrators at the University of California (UCLA) in Los Angeles.
A short occupation, which ended with a major police operation
The occupation lasted about 20 hours in a building Symbol of protests against the Vietnam War in 1968. The students said they did so to protest Colombia's “complicity in genocide.”
Dozens of police officers participated in the operation, which lasted three hours until midnight. The agents have entered the building Through the second floor, with a crane, Because the main entrances were closed with barriers. The police then put the detainees on a bus to transport them to the police station.
A few hours ago Columbia University began suspending students For refusing to dismantle the camp they had been maintaining on the New York campus for two weeks.
The move comes shortly after students voted to continue the protests, thoughWarning from the educational center. On Monday, the university gave the students a deadline to dismantle the camp, under the threat of losing the semester.
Columbia University was founded asCenter of pro-Palestinian protests, which has been going on for more than a week. There have already been more than a hundred arrests on campus in New York and the university administration has offered students the possibility of finishing the semester remotely. In addition, the university canceled a Muslim student's graduation speech, for security reasons.
Arrests in Texas
A few hours earlier, on Monday, about fifty young people were arrested on the University of Texas at Austin campus, as dozens of riot police forcefully dispersed pro-Palestinian protest camps. According to local media, agents They used pepper spray and dragged the protesters across the grass Those who refused to comply with evacuation orders issued by the university administration:
This was the second time in less than a week that law enforcement authorities had encountered students at this campus in the Texas capital, where On Wednesday there were already more than 50 arrests.
The protests are spreading and reaching Europe as well
The demonstrations in the United States are not limited to New York and Austin, but were repeated on twenty university campuses across the country. These movements share a rejection of the United States policy of military support for Israel and Arab countries Demanding schools to sever their ties with the Israeli government and the private sector.
Last Friday, Paris was the scene of student marches, despite the ban on pro-Palestine demonstrations in France. Aside from adding to the demands of the American students – demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and a review of relations with Israel – the mobilization in Paris added a new element to the protest: Anger at police interventions.
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