Police crackdowns have followed the spread of pro-Palestine demonstrations on campuses across the U.S., including at Emory University in Atlanta, where a police officer Tased a detained student on Thursday.
As college students demand divestment from Israel and take up other pro-Palestine causes on campuses around the country, police crackdowns have followed in quick succession. Last week, Columbia University president Minouche Shafik allowed the NYPD onto campus last week to arrest students at the school’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment; since then, similar encampments have cropped up at many colleges and universities, despite universities’ efforts to dismantle them. Below, updates on where the protest movement is spreading and how the sometimes-violent backlash is playing out.
Northeastern University, Boston
On Saturday morning, police cleared an encampment of protesters which was set up on Thursday on the Centennial Common at Northeastern, with the demonstrators calling for a cease fire in Gaza and for the university to divest from its financial ties with Israel. Police arrested 100 people, but there were no reports of violence. The university said anyone with with a valid school ID was immediately released, and that it decided to clear the encampment due to the arrival of outside agitators and the use of hate speech:
What began as a student demonstration two days ago, was infiltrated by professional organizers with no affiliation to Northeastern. Last night, the use of virulent antisemitic slurs, including “Kill the Jews,” crossed the line. We cannot tolerate this kind of hate on our campus.
However, according to a local reporter, it was a counter-protester who shouted “kill the Jews” — not someone in the encampment — and he was immediately booed by the pro-Palestine protesters:
I did hear « kill the Jews, » said by a counter-protester holding an Israeli flag, seemingly as a provocative joke in response to the group’s pro-Palestine chants. Not sure if that’s the specific incident @Northeastern leadership is referring to https://t.co/taGU6PMrVu pic.twitter.com/of22n8a4MK— Tori Bedford (@Tori_Bedford) April 27, 2024
this is a video of the incident I mentioned, provided by an organizer with Huskies For A Free Palestine/HFP.NEU
The student in the greenish blue sweatshirt holding the Israeli flag is a counter-protester pic.twitter.com/2KnUuFAkam— Tori Bedford (@Tori_Bedford) April 27, 2024
Reached for comment, a university spokesperson defended the decision to clear the encampment, insisting that context didn’t matter:
The fact that the phrase ‘Kill the Jews’ was shouted on our campus is not in dispute.
