Protests are roiling college campuses across the U.S. as upcoming graduation ceremonies are threatened by disruptive demonstrators, with students and others sparring over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and its mounting death toll.

Protests are roiling college campuses across the U.S. as upcoming graduation ceremonies are threatened by disruptive demonstrators, with students and others sparring over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and its mounting death toll.

Many campuses were largely quiet over the weekend as demonstrators stayed by tents erected as protest headquarters, although a few colleges saw forced removals and arrests. Many students are demanding their universities cut financial ties with Israel over the large-scale operation in Gaza it says was launched to stamp out the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Protesters on both sides of the rancourous 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 among demonstrators,” Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a statement. There were no reports of arrests or injuries.

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

  • PriorityMotif@lemmy.world
    55·
    6 months ago

    My wild conspiracy theory is that these protests have been urged by Israel in order to bolster support by conservatives and convincing traditional Democrat voting American Jews to be persuaded to eventually vote for conservatives. The narrative by Jewish organizations is that these protests are antisemetic and dangerous for Jewish people. It’s also distracting from the current Trump trial.

    • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
      4·
      6 months ago

      I know a lot of Jewish Americans, and none of them support Zionism. They also condemn Netanyahu for using antisemitism as a defense against criticism of his actions. The last thing they want is a target on their back.

      • PriorityMotif@lemmy.world
        1·
        6 months ago

        The problem is that Chabbad, one is the largest Jewish organizations in the world, is spreading fear about the protests. They have a lot of influence, especially with kids on college campuses.

    • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
      211·
      6 months ago

      Yes israel cannot be evil and Joe Biden is not supporting literal Genocide.

      It’s actually a giant conspiracy by Pootin that brainwashed the youth using TikTok deepfakes of israel brutally mass bombing little children in Gaza with weapons provided by Joe Biden.