There is currently a genocide going on right now in the Southwest corner of Israel. This genocide has been ongoing for seven months now, and not only have there been bombings, but over 35,000 Palestinians have been tortured, targeted, and killed. The U.S. has the power to end this, but instead of ending it, the U.S. is funding Israel with the weapons to continue this war. But this hasn’t gone unnoticed; celebrities, college students, and many people all over the world, including the citizens of the U.S., have taken action into their own hands.
Right now, all over the world, London, Madrid, Istanbul, and many more cities and countries have made it clear their hearts are with Palestine and are doing everything they can to stop this genocide.
What was supposed to be a peaceful protest turned out to be the largest arrest of Columbia University students by the New York Police Department in April 2024. This came at the request of Columbia University’s president, Namat Shafik. Many college students have also protested the Israel-Hamas war by walking out during graduation and protesting all over their campuses, which led to 2,900 students arrested. Seven thousand college graduates at Duke University have walked out of graduation, some waving a Palestine flag and others chanting “Free Palestine” to protest pro-Israel speaker Jerry Seinfeld.
Pomona College students set up tents all over the graduation stage where graduation was intended to happen, which led to the school’s administrators deciding to move the college graduation to Los Angeles. But protestors continued. Over 100 protestors stood outside the Shrine Auditorium face to face with the Los Angeles police department. This didn’t top the crowd of protestors; they all began to chant “Free Palestine.”
During their graduation, Emerson College in Boston protestors erupted into chants on and off. But this wasn’t the first protest that took place at this college. Last month, Boston police arrested more than 100 Emerson College students, but they faced no punishment, as Emerson College administrators stated. Another college in Boston, Northeastern University, also had an encampment, along with faculty on campus. Linking their arms together, they sat in a circle. Chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” others holding up signs saying “divest” and “Jews for a free Palestine.” The University warned the crowd that they would have to leave if they were not a part of Northeastern University. But that didn’t stop them.
Along with Virginia Common Wealth University, the school had many precautions taken before graduation. Precautions include taking off caps from water bottles before being sold to students because it was considered a safety precaution for staff and others. This was because weeks before graduation, police were hit with water bottles while raiding a protest. Other precautions included going through metal detectors before being seated, no masks to hide their identity, and those who didn’t comply were arrested. During the University’s graduation, 200 students got up 15 minutes into the governor’s speech and walked out. At the same time, other graduates chose not to show up at all.
UC Berkeley University also experienced similar protesting actions, but pro-Palestinians set up a camp sight that was the country’s most significant and largest encampment. After a while, the protestors removed some of their tents but clarified that they were not finished. The University has cut ties with Israel by cutting its ties through Israeli universities and decided to conduct reviews on the discrimination towards Palestinians, along with second-guessing their investments into companies that are funding Israel weapon manufacturing, mass incarceration, and surveillance industries.
Universities like the University of North Carolina have decided to put their school’s entire $2.3m budget into public safety and equity, which caused some voters to go against the investment, which affected the University’s funding—causing potential future departments to fall apart and job losses. As for student protests, students set up an encampment on campus two weeks before the University’s funding. Thirty-six people were detained for not complying with police orders to leave campus, and others were cited for trespassing but were eventually released. As for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, with similar outcomes as UNC, Pro-Palestinians agreed to take down their encampment that stood for two weeks if the school decided to join in on calls for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Many speakers have decided to pressure their University’s leadership to remove themselves from any ties with the Israeli war. One particular University of Texas, Austin, had a speaker, Jumana Fakhreddine, who obtained a peaceful protest to be heard. When Jumana was interviewed, she stated, “The whole reason we were there was just to ask for divestment simply and to stop supporting the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians.”
On May 1st, 2024, at Ohio State University, students gathered in an area where a pro-Palestinian protest had taken place a week before; nearly 40 people were arrested at this protest. But no arrests were made this time. In an interview, Christopher Nichols, a professor at Ohio University, stated, “The students that I know were involved in this are very moderate and not violent and have been quite law abiding in their practices.” He also stated that he supported his students in this protest to let them know they have the freedom of speech and protest.
Lastly, the University of Michigan faculty called for the college to remove themselves from any Israeli company ties they may have. As for doing this, the University was noticed. Many students from the National Students for Justice for Palestine congratulated the University for starting a ladder that will hopefully lead other Universities to follow in their footsteps and end this genocide.
All these student-led protests have one thing in common. They are all fighting for what they strongly believe in, and that was led by the 30,000+ Palestinians who were killed in this ongoing “ethnic cleansing.” With many protests still going on until justice is served, many universities have removed any Israel ties that they may have to show their support. Others turned to police enforcement to take control of these protests. But what they don’t realize is a genocide that has been ongoing for months now, the U.S funds that have spoken wonders about the governors of the U.S
