200 days have passed since Israel’s brutal military invasion of Gaza. For the past seven years, the Israeli military has been massacring in the blockaded valley of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Gaza Strip has been virtually reduced to rubble. Millions of unarmed and innocent Palestinians were killed. Most of them are children and women. More than 7,000 people are still missing buried under the rubble.
Of the 2.3 million inhabitants, 19 million are now refugees. They spend the day under the open sky. Hunger and famine prevailed. Millions of elephants are starving to death. Despite this situation, the United States and its European allies are providing all kinds of support to Israel, including arms and ammunition.
Protests and protests continue all over the world to stop the genocide. Millions of ordinary people are coming down the streets every day. They are speaking for the oppressed Palestinians and against the murderous Israelis. College-university students also joined these people.
Since then, pro-Palestinian students have been protesting Israel’s operations in Gaza on university campuses across Israel’s main ally and sponsor, the United States. But recently it has become more widespread.
University officials are struggling to deal with the growing protests. That is why dharpakas are being carried out in the name of suppression of protests. But as days go by, the protests are spreading.
It has spread beyond Columbia and Yale to other universities. Protesters have camped in the new campus.
Why are US university students protesting?
Students at US universities and colleges are not just protesting to end the war on Gaza. At the same time, they are also protesting and protesting against the continued support of the United States to Israel.
The students are basically calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Also demanding to end US military aid to Israel. They are also protesting the dismissal or harassment of students, teachers and administrative officials who stand up for the oppressed Palestinians.
What is antisemitism in this student protest?
Most of the students are more sympathetic to Palestine because of the genocide that Israel is carrying out in Gaza. But several Jewish student groups are trying to label these protests as ‘anti-Semitism’ and ‘anti-Semitism’. They claim that the pro-Palestinian protests have taken a stand against Israel and Zionism.
However, these demands have been rejected by pro-Palestinian protesters. They say Israel is a Zionist power. They are not against Jews, but against Zionist Israel. Because there is a clear difference between anti-Israel views and anti-Semitism.
They also say that being anti-Israel or anti-Zionist is not the same thing as anti-Semitism or opposition to or hatred of all Jews.
The authorities are moving towards the use of force to suppress the protests
The authorities are moving towards the use of force to suppress the huge student protests in the US colleges and universities to protest the war in Gaza.
Last Monday (April 22), police arrested several students for protesting in support of the Palestinians at Yale University and New York University.
Earlier last week, authorities called the police to the Columbia University campus and arrested hundreds of students. After that, taking classes in person was also stopped.
However, many critics have accused the protest of spreading anti-Semitism and harassment. Among them are some influential Republican lawmakers. On the other hand, rights activists have criticized the widespread beatings. According to them, freedom of speech is being undermined through this.
Since the sixties of the last century, the students of the University of California, Berkeley have been involved in various rights movements. Students here also protested against Israel’s indiscriminate attacks on Gaza. They are protesting by pitching a tent in the university campus.
California Polytechnic Humboldt has been closed due to anti-Israel protests on campus. Police removed protesters from the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus at the request of authorities.
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said that by Monday evening, more than 120 protesters had been arrested on New York university campuses. The police arrested the protestors after the request of the concerned authorities.
Last week, hundreds of students were arrested for taking part in protests in Colombia. Columbia University immediately stopped classes last Monday in the face of protests. The university authorities took this decision out of fear that Jewish students might be harassed.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said at the press conference, “There is a peaceful protest. However, the authorities have learned that some people who are not affiliated with the universities are trying to prevent the problem. We cannot give them that opportunity.
