Israel-Hamas War: Pro-Palestinian protests increase on US campuses, more than 200 arrested: 10 points

1. Pro-Palestinian protests at US universities, sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas, spread over the weekend as police crackdowns and arrests continued for another week.

2. Police arrested around 275 people across four different campuses. They include 100 at Northeastern University in Boston, 80 at Washington University in St Louis, 72 at Arizona State University and 23 at Indiana University.

3. Clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters were reported at UCLA, where a camp was set up last week.

4. Protests across the country have caught the attention of President Joe Biden, with the White House saying demonstrations must remain peaceful.

5. Protesters also raised a huge Palestinian flag from a top-floor window of the Washington Hilton Hotel, site of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

6. Campus activists are calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas and want colleges to sever ties with the country and companies they say profit from the conflict in Gaza.

7. The protests pose a major challenge for university administrators who are trying to balance commitments to free speech with complaints that the demonstrations have devolved into anti-Semitism and hate speech.

8. Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “reiterated his clear position” on a possible invasion of the Gaza border city, Rafah.

9. The Israel-Hamas war broke out after Hamas operatives carried out an unprecedented attack on Israeli cities on October 7 and left around 1,170 people dead. They also took around 250 people hostage.

10. Since then, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 34,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children.

Post a comment