Category Archives: Protest

Israelis voice sadness and defiance over Gaza protests on US campuses

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People in Jerusalem express little sympathy with anti-war demonstrators, with some accusing them of hatred for Israel

At the Jerusalem theatre on Thursday night, concertgoers and staff expressed a mixture of anger, sadness and defiance as weeks of pro-Palestinian protests across dozens of US college campuses reached a tumultuous climax 6,000 miles away.

The noisy demonstrations have been closely followed in Israel, reported by major media and discussed by prominent public figures.

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‘We’re infantilised or demonised’: French students criticise Gaza protests crackdown

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University students air frustration that sit-ins motivated by peace are being shut down instead of heeded

Jack, 22, a student in public administration, was dragged out of his university building by the arms and legs on Friday, as police forcibly removed several dozen students who had been occupying Paris’s Sciences Po university overnight in a protest against civilian deaths in Gaza.

“We’ll keep going,” said the French-American student in his final year at the prestigious political science school, whose alumni include the president, Emmanuel Macron. “This is about speaking out against a genocide, it’s an international movement. We occupied the building peacefully.”

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More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested across US campuses

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Police arrest more than 200 students at UCLA as law enforcement clears camp at Dartmouth, arresting more than 90 students

More than 2,000 people have now been arrested during pro-Palestinian protests across dozens of US college campuses in recent weeks.

Police arrested more than 300 pro-Palestinian demonstrators on college campuses on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, pushing the total past 2,000, according to an Associated Press tally.

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Sunak backs police action as Jewish students condemn ‘toxic’ protests

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PM backs action in case of disorder on campuses after claims that pro-Palestinian protests create hostile atmosphere

The prime minister has backed a police crackdown on any outbreak of disorder on university campuses after Jewish students said pro-Palestinian encampments were creating a “hostile and toxic atmosphere”.

In recent days, new encampments have been set up at the universities of Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol and Newcastle, among others, after violent scenes on US campuses resulted in mass arrests of students and staff.

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UCLA students describe violent attack on Gaza protest encampment: ‘It was terrifying’

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Slow response from authorities left students shocked as people wearing white masks attacked pro-Palestine protesters

When Meghna Nair, a second-year student at the University of California, Los Angeles, saw a masked group of people headed toward the pro-Palestine encampment on campus late on Tuesday evening, she expected trouble.

“I knew where they were going. I had an idea what they planned to do,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

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London protesters block coach taking asylum seekers to Bibby Stockholm

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Dozens of demonstrators in Peckham surround coach before it can take people to barge in Dorset

A standoff was under way in London on Thursday after a coach sent to collect asylum seekers and take them to the Bibby Stockholm barge was surrounded by protesters.

Dozens of demonstrators blocked the coach before it was able to pick up passengers, surrounding it on all sides. Hours later, the bus was still at the scene while protestors were also sitting in front of a number of police vans carrying a number of people who were arrested.

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UCLA chancellor condemns ‘instigators’ who attacked pro-Palestinian camp on campus

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Los Angeles mayor calls late-night attack by counter-demonstrators ‘abhorrent’ as footage shows people wielding sticks

The University of California in Los Angeles was reeling on Wednesday following a late-night violent attack by counter-demonstrators on a pro-Palestinian protest encampment, as the state’s governor condemned a slow response from law enforcement to some of the worst violence seen since students across the US intensified their protests in support of Gaza.

As the Los Angeles mayor called the violence “abhorrent” and California’s governor said he was monitoring the situation, UCLA announced it was cancelling all classes on Wednesday “due to the distress caused by the violence that took place on Royce Quad late last night”.

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Crackdowns intensify on pro-Palestine campus protests as hundreds arrested

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Tensions continue after night of unrest at UCLA and Columbia, as New York mayor blames ‘outside agitators’ for escalation

Crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests at US colleges spread on Wednesday after protest hotspots intensified overnight, leading to some violence and hundreds more arrests amid widespread controversy over universities calling in police and claims about “outside agitators” driving escalation.

The number of arrests of student protesters had exceeded an estimated 1,300 by Wednesday afternoon since the start of the latest bout of protests two weeks ago, as more students were detained. This added to tallies by the Associated Press and Axios earlier on Wednesday, across more than 30 campuses, coast to coast and north to south.

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Georgian police fire teargas as huge ‘foreign agents’ bill protests rock Tbilisi – as it happened

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Masked police also used water cannon and stun grenades against rally protesting over legislation viewed as authoritarian and Russian-inspired

Michael Roth, chairman of the German Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, has called on Georgia’s leadership to stop the violence and withdraw the foreign agents bill.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said today that he “strongly” condemns violence against protesters and said use of force is “unacceptable.”

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Dozens arrested at Columbia University as New York police disperse Gaza protest

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NYPD enters campus Tuesday evening to clear out academic building taken over by protesters earlier in the day

Hundreds of New York City police officers entered Columbia University on Tuesday evening to clear an academic building taken over by pro-Palestinian students the day before, as tensions surrounding the students’ campus encampment for Gaza have roiled the New York school for two weeks.

Live video images showed police in riot gear marching onto the upper Manhattan campus, the focal point of nationwide student protests opposing Israel’s war in Gaza.

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Georgia condemned for crackdown on protesters opposing ‘foreign agents’ bill

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EU leads calls for halt to escalating violence after police use water cannon, teargas and stun grenades against demonstrators

Western politicians and diplomats have called for a halt to spiralling violence in Georgia after security forces used water cannon, teargas, stun grenades and rubber bullets to break up a peaceful rally against a “foreign influence” bill overnight.

The EU, which has granted Georgia candidate status, “strongly condemned” the violence and called on the government to respect the right of peaceful assembly. “Use of force to suppress it is unacceptable,” foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on X.

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Paris regional leader suspends Sciences Po funding over Gaza protests

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French left denounces rightwinger Valérie Pécresse’s move against prestigious university

The Paris regional authority has temporarily suspending funding for Sciences Po, one of France’s most prestigious universities, after it was rocked by pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

“I have decided to suspend all regional funding for Sciences Po until calm and security have been restored at the school,” Valérie Pécresse, the rightwing head of the greater Paris Île-de-France region, said on social media on Monday.

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Police enter Columbia in apparent bid to break up student occupation

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Images on TV show police on campus in New York after students take over Hamilton Hall building amid continuing protests

New York City police entered Columbia University on Tuesday evening in a reported effort to disperse the students who took over an academic building – and are facing expulsion – earlier in the day and those who have been encamped on school property for two weeks as tensions surrounding the pro-Palestinian demonstration escalated.

TV images showed police entering the elite university in upper Manhattan, which has been the focal point of student protests that have spread to dozens of schools across the US.

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Portland State University ‘pauses’ Boeing donations amid student protests

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Students called on the school to cut ties with the weapons manufacturer, which donated $150,000 this year

A university in Portland, Oregon will “pause” accepting donations from Boeing after students called on the school to cut ties with the manufacturer amid the war in Gaza.

In addition to setting up an encampment on campus, students also addressed a letter to Ann Cudd, the president of Portland State University (PSU), demanding the university cut ties with Boeing.

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Columbia issues ultimatum to clear pro-Palestine protest or risk suspension

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Talks aimed at having encampment removed voluntarily break down as president insists school won’t bow to divestment demands

Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University have been given an ultimatum to abandon their encampment or risk suspension, after the breakdown of talks aimed at having it removed voluntarily.

The ultimatum, setting a Monday deadline of 2pm, came after the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, announced that efforts to reach a compromise with protest organisers had failed. She insisted that the institution would not bow to demands to divest from Israel.

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Echoes of Vietnam era as pro-Palestinian student protests roil US campuses

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Calls for divestment continue despite hundreds of arrests, with more demonstrations planned for Democratic national convention

Student protests on US university campuses over Israel’s war on Gaza showed little sign of letting up over the weekend, with protesters vowing to continue until their demands for US educational bodies to disentangle from companies profiting from the conflict are met.

In what is perhaps the most significant student movement since the anti-Vietnam campus protests of the late 1960s, the conflict between pro-Palestinian students and university administrators has revealed an entire subset of conflicts.

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‘Like a war zone’: Emory University grapples with fallout from police response to protest

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A peaceful action at the school near Atlanta, Georgia, was met with violent use of force and 28 arrests of students and faculty

Clifton Crais, a history professor, was walking to class at Emory University in Decatur, Georgia, outside Atlanta, on Thursday shortly before 10am when several students rushed up to him.

“Please, please contact president Fenves,” they begged, referring to the university president, Gregory Fenves. “Ask him to not call the police.” Several dozen protesters seeking the university’s divestment from Israel and opposing a $109m police training center colloquially known as “Cop City” had set up tents on the school’s grassy quad – the size of a football field – several hours before.

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Workers accuse Google of ‘tantrum’ after 50 fired over Israel contract protest

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Tech giant fired number of people who protested against $1.2bn Project Nimbus, which supports Israeli military and government

Google has been accused of throwing a “tantrum” after sacking more than 50 workers in response to a protest over the company’s military ties to the Israeli government – firings that have shone a light on a controversial project and long-simmering tensions between staff and management.

The workers were sacked following protests at Google offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California, organized by No Tech for Apartheid – an alliance of Google and Amazon workers who have been protesting against a $1.2bn contract with the Israeli government called Project Nimbus that they claim will make it “easier for the Israeli government to surveil Palestinians and force them off their land”.

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Columbia University calls for inquiry into leadership as student protests sweep 40 campuses

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Professors at Emory University arrested as campuses follow Columbia’s lead in demanding ceasefire and divestment

At least 40 pro-Palestine protest camps have arisen across US campuses following Columbia University’s example earlier this month, as the New York school’s senate called for an investigation into its leadership, the New York Times reported.

While many remain provocative though peaceful, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment by their institutions from companies with ties to Israel, hundreds of students and outside protesters have been arrested, and there have been some fierce clashes with police.

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CAA cancels counter-protest against London pro-Palestinian march

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Campaign Against Antisemitism, led by Gideon Falter, cites safety fears and promises more protests to come

Campaign Against Antisemitism has cancelled its planned counter-protest against a pro-Palestinian march through central London on Saturday.

The group, led by Gideon Falter, had said it wanted to use the “walk together” initiative to support its view that the area around the planned pro-Palestinian march was not safe for Jewish people.

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