America: Students protest in support of Palestine intensifies Police arrested several protestors in front of a senator's house

Students at major US universities continue their pro-Palestinian protests And the sit-in with the tents demands, above all, a change of course in Washington's policy toward Israel. Gaza Stripwhen New York police arrested several protesters In front of Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer's house.

Demonstrators gathered in Brooklyn near the home of the New York senator, and in several videos broadcast by social networks and media, you can see how police officers handcuffed some of them and detained them. The New York Police Department did not immediately provide a figure on the number of arrests.. This followed the arrest of 120 pro-Palestinian protesters at New York University on Monday night.

Schumer was in Washington DC to attend a Senate vote on new military aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. After the vote, the press asked him if he had a message for the protesting students, to which he replied: “University campuses should be places of learning and discussion. Every American has the right to demonstrate, but protests should not be “anti-Semitic, verbal abuse, intimidation or threats against Jewish people. 7 Glorification of violence, trespassing”.

Limit resistance

Meanwhile, at Columbia University, the center of pro-Palestinian protests, activists reached out to a An agreement was reached to limit the scope of their protests to avoid being removed by the police in the early hours of this Wednesday. As agreed, campers have 48 hours to reduce the number of tents, evacuate activists outside the university, prevent discriminatory language and comply with police instructions on safety.

In this way, the right to free expression is protected while responding to complaints of lack of security or anti-Semitic behavior caused by the presence and operation of dozens of tents in the middle of the main campus. Some of those camped out toward other students of the Jewish confession.

Regarding this last point, the university's chancellor, Nemat Shafiq, ordered on Monday that all classes be virtual. “To calm the frenzy and give us an opportunity to consider next steps, I am announcing that classes will be held virtually,” he wrote in an open letter. “In recent days, there have been more cases of bullying and harassment on our campus. Anti-Semitic language, any language used to hurt or intimidate people is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken,” he warned.

Isabella Ramirez, The editor-in-chief of the Columbia Daily Spectator spoke this Wednesday CNN Radio Pro-Palestine Protests at Columbia University, USA: “We're seeing an exercise in how student frustration is controlling the situation around anti-Semitism and freedom of expression.”

“There are negotiations between the administration and the organizers, who are setting up a camp inside the campus, where there are tents. There are those who say the demonstrations are reaching anti-Semitic events.”Added.

Protest slogans

The university's students are demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, but their institution's officials must stop investing in companies that “participate in the genocide of Palestinians and make money” and publish their names, he told the press. Darialisa Avila Chevalier, spokeswoman for the protesters.

Since the more than six-month war between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas began, students have raised their voices, but “instead of listening to them, the university suspends them, making it difficult for them to demonstrate on campus,” the spokesman said. ” “There is injustice in Gaza, the massacre of more than 40,000 Palestinians. More than two million people lost their homes, the bombing of people,” he said..

Columbia University students aren't the only ones making demands on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza. New York University (NYU), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Yale University in Connecticut, University of California at Berkeley and University of Michigan also join. The news agency reported EFEProtests on Wednesday spread to several states, including Texas and New Mexico.

International influence

Regarding the damage caused abroad, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin NetanyahuCondemned the protests of American students. “What is happening on American campuses is appalling. Anti-Semitic gangs have taken over major universities,” he said. In a video message recorded in English.

The prime minister also noted that the demonstrations were reminiscent of “what happened in German universities in the 1930s”. “We are witnessing this exponential rise of anti-Semitism in the United States and throughout Western societies as Israel tries to protect itself from genocidal terrorists hiding behind the public eye,” the president said.

In a very different tone, United Nations (UN) Secretariat spokesperson Farhan Huq first presented the right to protest.. “The basic position of the UN has always been to respect the right of people to demonstrate peacefully. Some protests may have been used by different people to lead to hate speech or anti-Semitism, and we are against that, but peaceful protest is the same. Basic rights,” Huq recalled.