“The writer Ayelet Waldman held a white flag as she and protesters with Rabbis for Cease Fire walked down an empty road near the Erez into Gaza,” reported KCBS anchor Raquel Maria Dillion this week of the Berkeley-based author.
Here in the U.S., people at college campuses from coast to coast are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, hit Israel with a large-scale terrorist attack last October, kicking off a war that has left Palestinian civilians in the crossfire. By Feb. 29, 30,000 people had already died in the conflict, according to the United Nations .
Protests calling for an end to the fighting started almost as soon as Israel declared war on Hamas. While the protestors criticize the war, there has also been criticism of some protestors for inflammatory language. The New York Times reported Friday that Columbia University barred a protest leader student who said “Zionists don’t deserve to live.”
Arrests have been made across the country and students have also been suspended for taking part in protests.
For example, “outspoken anti-Israel Minnesota Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s 21-year-old daughter, Columbia University undergraduate Isra Hirsi, was suspended from the school Thursday after taking part in unauthorized protests, which were anti-Israel – including joining an encampment – on campus grounds, she and the school confirmed,” reported 1010 WINS earlier this month .
This weekend is a particularly busy one, especially on college campuses, for the ongoing protests.
On Friday, KCBS reported that 100 pro-Palestinian activists remained encamped outside Sproul Hall at the University of California, Berkeley. They were demanding a ceasefire and divestment by UC for the fifth day in a row.
“A hard closure of campus is now being enforced,” said a statement issued by Cal Poly Humboldt Saturday afternoon. “Individuals are prohibited from entering or being on campus without permission.”
According to the statement, the campus is closed due to the “ongoing occupation of Siemens Hall and Nelson Hall, as well as continued challenges with individuals breaking laws in the area surrounding the buildings and the quad.”
CNN reported Saturday that University of Southern California associate professor of communications and journalism Mike Ananny , believes his institution has failed people trying to speak their minds about the situation.
“On Thursday, Ananny wrote an open letter appearing in the student publication, the Daily Trojan , stating he no longer trusts the school’s provost, Andrew Guzman, and its president, Carol Folt, after witnessing how they handled what he called peaceful protests, especially on Wednesday,” said the outlet. Nearly 100 people were arrested there after protestors were ordered out of a campus park.
On the East Coast, CNN reported that the crowd of protestors at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. had grown since Friday. In New York City, protests at Columbia seemed calm Saturday but were still ongoing.
At Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., the student organization, Huskies for a Free Palestine , “says it was not infiltrated by outside organizers, as school officials had said after shutting down a protest encampment at the Boston campus,” said CNN. Around 100 people were detained at the encampment.
Further west, officials at the University of Pennsylvania called for demonstrators to leave an on-campus encampment, citing “blatant violations of University policies,” per CNN.
“We have vigilantly supported the rights of our community members to protest peacefully,” a statement signed by Interim President J. Larry Jameson, Provost John L. Jackson and Senior Executive Vice President Craig R. Carnaroli said in part, as cited bythe outlet. “Unfortunately, blatant violations of University policies and credible reports of harassing and intimidating conduct compel us to protect the safety and security of our campus community.”
The Penn Arab Student Society (PASS) issued a statement on social media afterwards.
“Many protesters and by-standers were present and we implore the University to defer to the witnesses present during these violations,” the group said. “Again, we emphasize the safety and protection of students, faculty, and staff apart of Pro-Palestinian efforts. We are disappointed by the University’s brash allegations before a proper and fair investigation is conducted.”
Additionally, the Muslim Students’ Association at UPenn released a statement .
Other campuses where protests were making headlines this weekend included Arizona State University , Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., Indiana University and the University of Illinois .
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