Student protests over the war between Israel and Hamas rock US campuses before graduations

LOS ANGELES – Colleges across the country implored pro-Palestinian student protesters to empty tent camps with increasing levels of urgency Monday as classes ended for the semester and campuses prepared for graduation ceremonies.

Students and others have spared the war between Israel and Hamas and its growing death toll. Many students demand that their universities cut financial ties with Israel.

Protests were still active on several campuses. Near George Washington University, protesters at an encampment breached and dismantled barriers used Monday morning to protect University Yard, the university said in a statement. The patio had been closed since last week.

At Columbia University, site of the first protests, dialogue since last week between academic leaders and student organizers to dismantle encampments has made no progress, the university president said Monday. Protesters at Yale University set up a new camp with dozens of tents on Sunday afternoon, nearly a week after police arrested nearly 50 protesters and cleared a similar camp.

At least one school, the University of Southern California, canceled its main graduation ceremony this spring. Others call for the protests to be resolved peacefully so they can hold their ceremonies.

Protesters on both sides of the rancorous debate shouted and shoved each other during dueling demonstrations Sunday at the University of California, Los Angeles. The university stepped up security after “some physical altercations broke out between protesters,” Mary Osako, vice provost for Strategic Communications at UCLA, said in a statement. There were no reports of arrests or injuries.

About 275 people were arrested Saturday on multiple campuses, including Indiana University in Bloomington, Arizona State University and Washington University in St. The number of arrests nationwide has surpassed 900 since New York police York removed a pro-Palestinian protest camp at Columbia University and arrested more than 100 protesters on April 18.

The plight of students who were arrested has become a central part of the protests, with students and a growing number of teachers demanding amnesty for protesters. The question is whether suspensions and legal records will follow students into their adult lives.

The campus-wide protests began as a response by some students to Israel’s offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7.

The militants killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took around 250 hostages. Promising to eradicate Hamas, Israel killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.

Israel and its supporters have called the university protests anti-Semitic, while Israel’s critics say the country uses such allegations to silence opponents. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making anti-Semitic comments or violent threats, protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.

Student demonstrations have emerged across the US in several locations, including New York, California, Missouri, Indiana, Massachusetts, Vermont and Virginia.

The first protests at Columbia University in New York, where demonstrators set up tents in the center of the campus, sparked pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country. The demonstrations caused the school to hold remote classes.

Columbia set a series of deadlines for protesters to leave the camp, which they failed to meet, but the school said in an email to students that bringing police back “at this time” would be counterproductive. Students and administrators began negotiations to end the disturbances, but the parties were unable to reach an agreement, university president Minouche Shafik said in a statement Monday.

On Sunday, students walked among dozens of colorful tents in front of Low Library, where rows of chairs have already been set up in preparation for graduation in May.

At UCLA, police set up barricades before hundreds of protesters from both sides joined a growing crowd Sunday near the tents where pro-Palestinian students stay 24 hours a day.

Pro-Israel protesters who arrived for a “Support for Jewish Students” rally said their goal was to “stand up against hatred and anti-Semitism.” The counterprotest was organized by the Israeli-American Council, whose leader Elan Carr urged protesters to remain peaceful, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Across town, the University of Southern California said it was open Sunday after administrators closed the campus a day earlier because of what the school called vandalism and disturbances.

USC received criticism after refusing to allow this year’s valedictorian, who has publicly supported the Palestinian cause, to give a commencement address. Administrators then canceled filmmaker Jon M. Chu’s speech. Last week, the school announced the cancellation of its main graduation event, a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested by police in riot gear.

In the northern part of the state, authorities on Saturday ordered a “forced closure” of California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt. Two halls remained occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters.

Washington University in St. Louis locked down some campus buildings and arrested protesters on Saturday. Photos showed uniformed officers trying to remove masked protesters while others, also wearing masks, linked arms to thwart the efforts.

The university said in a statement that more than 100 people, including 23 students and four university employees, were arrested on suspicion of trespassing. Megan Green, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, said in a social media post that she was present and that the protest remained calm “until the police showed up as an ambush.”

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein said in a social media post that she and two of her campaign managers were among those arrested.

The university’s statement defended the action and said the protesters “did not have good intentions on our campus and that this demonstration had the potential to spiral out of control and become dangerous.”

Police in riot gear cleared a camp at Northeastern University in Boston on Saturday. About 100 protesters were arrested and will be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, Massachusetts State Police said.

Boston’s Emerson College said in a statement Sunday that it will not bring disciplinary charges against more than 100 protesters who were arrested last week and will encourage prosecutors not to bring charges for camp-related violations.

At Boston’s Tufts University, the school said in a statement that officials would contact protesters on Monday to plan for the end of a camp in the coming days.

There were an unknown number of arrests over the weekend at a protest at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, a university spokesperson said Monday.

Protesters began occupying the lawn of the graduate center on Friday, the university said in a statement. The gathering violated university policy, the school said, but there was a “safe and peaceful environment” for much of the weekend.

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Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska, and Thompson reported from Buffalo, New York. Associated Press journalists in various locations contributed, including Christopher Weber, Jacques Billeaud, Aaron Morrison, Stefanie Dazio, Kathy McCormack, Jim Vertuno, Acacia Coronado, Sudhin Thanawala, Jeff Amy, Jeff Martin, Mike Stewart, Collin Binkley, Jake Offenhartz, Jesse Bedayn and Sophia Tareen.