Pro-Palestine Protests At College Campuses

A series of pro-Palestine protests is continuing to wreak havoc on college campuses all across America.

Top News Today :
Fueled with fury against Israel’s war with Hamas and the deaths of countless innocent civilians, students have proven there’s strength in numbers by orchestrating multiple pro-Palestine protests from coast to coast.

At the University of Texas at Austin, dozens of local police and state troopers were forced to form a blue line that turned out to be unsuccessful at preventing students from marching across the campus.

Also in Texas, protesters staged a walkout and a march to the main campus lawn, where students seized the space and hosted lectures and other events. Threats from the university that it would “not tolerate disruptions” like those at other campuses went ignored.

At the University of Southern California, police removed several makeshift tents students pitched on campus grounds. Their actions prompted a physical back-and-forth between police and the protesters.

Harvard University attempted to stay one step ahead of its protests by limiting access to Harvard Yard and requiring permission for the construction of tents and tables. Still, students were somehow able to erect more than a dozen tents and demonstrate against the university’s suspension of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.

In New York, Columbia University became somewhat of a “ground zero” for the pro-Palestinian protests. Last week, students effectively overtook the main campus — and school officials were forced to suspend all in-person classes and announce virtual-only classes for the remainder of the semester.   

So, what’s going on here?

Pro-Palestine protests on college campuses began after Hamas conducted a deadly Oct. 7 attack against southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 (mostly civilian) people and took roughly 250 hostages. However, students were quick to point out that Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Also, because they never distinguish between combatants and noncombatants, at least two-thirds of the dead are believed to have been women and children.

Student groups across the country have vowed that the protests will continue until schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies enabling its monthslong conflict.

“We want to be visible,” said Columbia protest leader Mahmoud Khalil, who noted that students at the university have been pushing for divestment from Israel since 2002. “The university should do something about what we’re asking for, about the genocide that’s happening in Gaza. They should stop investing in this genocide.”

Interestingly, at least one prominent journalist has made it known that he’s disgusted with how his alma mater has handled the protests.

Dan Abrams, an MSNBC News analyst who also hosts a show on NewsNation and is the founder of Mediaite, publicly denounced Columbia and all other universities that have allowed protests to grow out of control.

“As a graduate of Columbia University Law School, I am ashamed. I’m embarrassed by what I’m seeing on that campus and now other campuses,” Abrams said during a televised segment.

He called out the “students, professors, and outside agitators” who were violating campus rules and “preventing everyone else from attending classes.” However, he wanted it to be clear that he was not demeaning the act of protesting, but rather the illegal encampments.

Student groups have made it known they’re willing to go the distance, while colleges and universities are finding themselves underprepared and overwhelmed.

How far will the pro-Palestine protests go? How much longer can college campuses endure the ramifications? Will universities meet the students’ demands to cut ties with Israel and any company that sympathizes with the Gaza attacks?

OK WASSUP! discusses the Top News Today:
Pro-Palestine protests are growing across America.