While in France, student tensions around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seem to be crystallizing at Sciences-po Paris – around fifty students pitched their tentsWednesday at the end of the day, on the Saint-Thomas campus before being evacuated -, those who agitate the largest American universities continue to grow.
From October 7, the most prestigious campuses had been the scene of anti-Semitic speeches and threatsleading Congress to summon the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania to demand an explanation. Her lack of credible answers led Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard, the best university in the world according to Shanghai rankingto the resignation. Then came Elizabeth Magill’s turn, president of the University of Pennsylvania. Without the tensions easing.
Since the middle of last week, the campus of the prestigious American University Columbia has been the scene of a resurgence of demonstrationssome leaving room for anti-Semitic acts. The arrest and expulsion of students from the elitist New York establishment fueled anger, and the movement now affects establishments across the country.
At the University of Austin, Texas, a gathering of hundreds of students first took place, some waving Palestinian flags and wearing the keffiyeh, this scarf emblematic of the Palestinian cause, while others, supervised by police officers, had wrapped themselves in Israeli flags. But the most determined refused to disperse and clashes took place with the police. local time (2 a.m. this Thursday, French time), police had made 34 arrests.
At the massive California State University, University Park Campus in Los Angeles, has been evacuated due to protests there, and entrances are being screened. 93 people were arrested, including one for assault with a deadly weapon, said Captain Kelly Muniz of the Los Angeles police during a press briefing. 300 km away, the Humboldt Polytechnic campus, near San Luis Obispo, is partially occupied by demonstrators including “unidentified non-students with unknown intentions”, according to the administration which decreed the closure of the places for the whole weekend. Classes will be held remotely on Thursday and Friday and the authorities could keep the campus closed for longer. Graffiti described as “hateful” was painted on campus. If the university says it supports freedom of expression, it rejects “anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, hatred and sectarianism in all its forms”.
In Harvard (Massachusetts), pro-Palestinian students started an encampment in Harvard Yard, the immense 10 hectare space located in the heart of the premises. However, management had closed this space until Friday, to avoid any installation. Students denounce the university’s suspension of the “Palestine Solidarity Committee,” a group that accuses Harvard of “relentlessly suppressing the voices of its community that speak out against the actions of the Israeli state and for human rights of the Palestinian people.”
Netanyahu calls on “Jews and non-Jews together” to “stand up and speak out”
A “Gaza solidarity camp” is still in place in Columbia. University president Minouche Shafik authorized the New York police to evacuate him, but he reconstituted himself on the lawn across the street. 108 demonstrators were arrested, according to Mayor Eric Adams, without “any violence or injury during the unrest”. All had been released in the evening, told the Spectator two law school students.
The very conservative Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, held a firm speech there on Wednesday evening, amid boos. He demanded the resignation of Minouche Shafik “if she does not immediately restore order to this chaos”. “If the situation is not brought under control quickly and if the threats and intimidation do not stop, it will then be time to call in the National Guard,” he said. Columbia spokesman Ben Chang dismissed the idea of calling in the National Guard. “Our goal is to restore order and if we can achieve that through dialogue, we will,” he insisted.
Calling on the National Guard to restore calm on campus brings back painful memories for Americans: on May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard opened fire at Kent State University on peaceful student demonstrators , who protested against the American intervention in Cambodia on the sidelines of the Vietnam War. Four people were killed in 13 seconds.
During a televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed concern that “anti-Semitic hordes have seized leading universities” in the United States, comparing the situation to that of Germany in the 1990s. 1930. He called on “Jews and non-Jews together” to “stand up and speak out.” “We must stop anti-Semitism,” he insisted, “because anti-Semitism (…) always precedes larger conflagrations that engulf the entire world.”
