As the high-speed conflict over pro-Palestinian demonstrations and campus encampments continues, schools that cracked down on protesters over the weekend have offered various justifications for their actions, and others have offered various explanations for their inaction. sending a signal.
Behind this was a central issue facing university leaders across the country. The question is when do demonstrations cross the line?
The university cites property damage, outside provocateurs, anti-Semitic rhetoric, or simply failure to heed warnings as reasons for clearing encampments and arresting students. Student organizations strongly deny or question many of these claims.
Police were called to protests Saturday at Northeastern University in Boston, Washington University in St. Louis, Indiana University Bloomington and Arizona State University, making more than 200 arrests. Other schools, including Columbia University, Penn University, Harvard University and Cornell University, faced icy protests Sunday as leaders warned protesters of possible consequences but had not yet followed through. The tension continued.
At the University of Washington, where campus police officers made 100 arrests on Saturday, administrators announced that a group had violated university rules by starting to set up a camp on the east end of campus. University administrators wrote that officers arrested people who refused to leave “after being asked multiple times.”
“No one has the right to impede the ability of people in our communities to learn and work,” they said.
More than 800 people have been arrested since April 18, when New York police cleared the Colombian encampment.
At Northeastern University, where 102 protesters were arrested early Saturday, a university spokesperson said the demonstration had been “infiltrated by professional organizers” and that someone had made “violent anti-Semitic slurs.” said. Demonstrators denied both claims.
Many school leaders have claimed that people outside the university are stirring up the conflict, despite limited evidence to support their claims. In many cases, protest groups primarily involve students and university employees, but a notable exception was at the University of Washington on Saturday. The university said in a statement on Sunday that of the 100 people arrested, 23 were students and only four were staff.
But at other universities, schools cited no evidence to support their claims, and outsider influence was not apparent.
About 200 people took part in a pro-Israel demonstration Sunday at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a few hundred meters from the pro-Palestinian camp. Noah Rubin, a third-year student who spoke at the pro-Israel rally, said not all of the pro-Palestinian protesters were Penn students.
“We have several individuals on record with a history of violence in Philadelphia,” he said, without providing further details. A campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Rubin's claims.
Some schools are trying to limit outside influences. For example, Harvard University is trying to limit access to only those who present a university ID. At Northeastern University, authorities asked protesters to show their student IDs earlier in the week before they were arrested on campus Saturday. Some demonstrators showed it, while others refused. At Columbia University, where the school gates were closed, protesters on the other side shouted anti-Semitic chants and threatened students, adding to the sense of chaos.
On Friday, protesters set up encampment at the University of Mary Washington in Fredricksburg, Virginia, but after the demonstration was open to the public, university officials ordered organizers to remove the tents, citing safety concerns. and was evacuated early that night. . The university's president, Troy D. Paino, said in a statement Sunday that peaceful protests continued into Saturday, and that “outside influences” had caused the encampment to expand again.
When the tents were put back up Saturday afternoon, organizers were told to leave, the university said. Twelve people, nine of them students, who were participating in the protest were subsequently arrested.
But while some school administrators seek to blame protesters from outside the community, it is often their own students who are arrested. At Emory University in Atlanta, 20 of the at least 28 people arrested Thursday were affiliated with the university, despite authorities initially claiming that none of those involved in the encampment were affiliated with the university. There was a connection.
Emory President Gregory L. Fenves said in a statement Sunday that some people spray-painted “hateful messages” on the exterior of the building and vandalized other structures. He said a peaceful protest had been disrupted.
“Professor Emory bridges the gap between individuals who wish to peacefully express themselves and those who seek to use our campus as a platform to foster discord,” Dr. Fenves said, adding that He added that such incidents “must be rejected and condemned.”
The high-profile conflict has sparked more demonstrations, including on campuses where protests were quelled earlier this year.
In Stamford, protesters set up a second encampment on Thursday after an earlier encampment was cleared in February. Administrators said in a statement Friday that they delivered letters to approximately 60 students warning them that they could face disciplinary action and arrest if they “fail to desist from conduct that violates university policies.”
Anna Betts, colbi edmonds, John Hurdle and bernard mocam Contributed to the report.
