Clashes erupted early Wednesday at a pro-Palestinian protest camp at the University of California, Los Angeles, with counter-demonstrators repeatedly throwing objects and trying to dismantle barricades at the camp. On the opposite side of the country police in New York City cleared a pro-Palestinian protest site at Columbia University where demonstrators had occupied a campus building.
Officials at UCLA declared the protest, which is seeking to have the university divest from Israel, to be unlawful and in violation of university policy. The protesters and counter-protesters were initially apart from each other late Tuesday, but the situation turned more violent in the early morning hours as the counter-protesters shot fireworks, advanced on the camp barricade and repeatedly launched objects at the protesters.
There were small clashes between the two sides in front of the barricade, and while police deployed to the area at the request of university leaders, officers did not immediately separate the two sides.
In New York, police equipped with helmets and riot shields arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University and others at The City College of New York about 20 blocks away.
A Columbia spokesman said in a statement the university’s administration decided to call in police in order to “restore safety and order to our community.”
“We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions,” the spokesman said. “After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized and blockaded, we were left with no choice.”
A Columbia University faculty group criticized the administration’s decision to turn to police, saying faculty members had tried for two weeks to intervene and defuse the situation only to be rebuffed by university leaders.
“NYPD presence in our neighborhood endangers our entire community. Armed police entering our campus places students and everyone else on campus at risk,” said a statement from the Columbia University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
The faculty further said it would hold the university’s leaders “responsible for the disastrous lapses of judgment that have gotten us to this point.”
Protesting Israel’s war in Gaza and demanding university divestment from the country along with amnesty for demonstrators, students entered Hamilton Hall early Tuesday, hours after the university began suspending students for refusing to take down tents at a nearby protest site.
Hamilton Hall has been central to protests at the university since the 1960s.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday that President Joe Biden believes students occupying an academic building is “absolutely the wrong approach,” and “not an example of peaceful protest.”
Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who represents a New York district near Columbia University, called on the school to stop what he called a “dangerous escalation.”
“Educational institutions should be spaces to nurture critical thinking skills and learn to work together with diverse communities to enact a more just and peaceful world,” Bowman said in a statement. “The militarization of college campuses, extensive police presence, and arrest of hundreds of students are in direct opposition to the role of education as a cornerstone of our democracy.”
The Columbia student radio station WCKR reported that all student journalists were escorted away from Hamilton Hall, and that later they were threatened with arrest if they left the Pulitzer Hall building that houses the university’s journalism school. Still, the student journalists continued to broadcast and report on what was happening.
Due to a significant number of online listeners, WCKR experienced intermittent outages and had to lower its sound quality in order to accommodate increased demand.
Shortly after police carried out arrests at Columbia, officers also arrested pro-Palestinian protesters at The City College of New York, located about 20 blocks north of Columbia.
Building takeover
Facing calls to resign over how she has handled the protests, Shafik released a statement Monday condemning calls for violence and reiterating the university’s commitment to “academic freedom and to ensuring that all members of our community have the right to speak their minds.”
Insisting Columbia will not divest from Israel, Shafik said the school has instead “offered to develop an expedited timeline for review of new proposals from the students by the … body that considers divestment matters.”
After smashing through glass door panels and chaining them shut, students draped a banner reading “Hind’s Hall” from an upper floor. Protesters have identified Hind as “a 6-year-old Palestinian child murdered in Gaza by the Israeli occupation forces funded by Columbia University.”
Israel denies targeting civilians in its war against Hamas, alleging that militants are using civilians as human shields. More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, many of whom are women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Israel launched its offensive in response to an Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw some 250 taken hostage.
Three hours after students commandeered Hamilton Hall, Columbia University issued a notice that the campus would be closed to all except for residential students and essential employees.
Nationwide demonstrations
Students have been protesting Israel’s war in Gaza on campuses throughout the country. Dozens of students were pepper-sprayed and arrested by police on Monday at the University of Texas at Austin, while students at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, in Arcata, California, were detained early Tuesday.
Protesters and administrators at Brown University in Rhode Island reached an agreement Tuesday for demonstrators to close their encampment in exchange for a commitment by the university to vote in October on whether to divest from Israel-linked funds.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk expressed concern over the force being used against protesters throughout the United States, saying, “Freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly are fundamental to society.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it “essential in all circumstances to guarantee the freedom of expression and the freedom of peaceful demonstration.”
“Hate speech is unacceptable,” he said, adding that it is up to the university authorities to manage the unrest.
Chris Hannas and Liam Scott contributed to this report. Some information in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
