WASHINGTON (AP) — Campus activism has been flaring up as the school year ended, with Palestinian parents demonstratings that led to arrests at several universities.
Compared to last spring, when Over 2,100 people have been arrested At campus protests across the country, demonstrations are smaller and more scattered.
But the interests are also much higher. President Donald Trump’s administration has investigated dozens of universities for handling protests, including anti-Semitism allegations and frozen federal grants as leverage. Press Request For new rules on activism.
The university, in turn, takes more difficult boundaries following discipline and enforcement. New policy It was adopted to prevent Tent camp The kind that happened on many campuses last year for weeks.
What do protesters demand?
It is pushing further the same goal that encouraged last year’s protests – Finishing the university bond With companies that provide arms and other support to Israel or Israel.
The protester who took over Columbia University The library issued demand this month, including student and workers’ pardons targeting discipline by the university, including sales from “occupying, apartheid and genocide.” Approximately 80 people were arrested in the protest, and police and federal immigration officials were also required to leave campus.
Protests in University of Washington A few days ago, end-of-school relationships called for a relationship with Boeing, a supplier to the Israeli Defence Force. Activists wanted the school to return Boeing’s donations and ban company employees from education in schools. Thirty people have been arrested.
Other protests thrived at schools including Swarthmore College, Rutgers University, University of California, Los Angeles and Brooklyn College.
Tension develops as the grade ends
The timing of the recent protests is war Robert Cohen, a professor of history and social studies at New York University, said it was the close end of itself and the school year.
Cohen said Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s debate over the escalation of the war could energize activists. “And the fact that it’s the end of the semester — maybe it’s the last chance they have to take a stance for them to make this public,” he said.
Still, he sees his latest flare-up as a return to the protest that campus has sometimes seen, even before the Israeli-Hamas war. Many students may not want to risk punishment as universities impose stricter rules, he said.
“Essentially, you have the core of a small person, and the bigger mass movement is restrained,” he said of the latest activism. “These are small, scattered protests.”
Stakes are getting much higher this spring
Universities navigate protests risk losing Federal grants for research If their response is in violation of the government.
The handling of last year’s protests was at the heart of the Trump administration’s fight against Columbia, Harvard University and other universities.
Some schools are frozen for what the administration calls not eradicating anti-Semitism on campus. Federal officials are calling for more severe actions against protesters, protests, and new restrictions on other changes aimed at pro-Palestinian activities along with diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
After the University of Washington protest, the Federal Anti-Semitism Task Force said it was beginning a review. It praised the swift action from police, but said that campus leaders “hopefully follow up with enforcement measures and policy changes that are clearly necessary to prevent these uprisings from moving forward.”
As the federal government moves, the interests of international students also increase. Foreign students It has connections to pro-Palestinian activities.
The university is actively cracking
Columbia University last week after calling police to clear the library occupied by protesters. 65 students have been suspended 33 people were banned from campus.
Columbia’s response has attracted praise from the Trump administration’s task force. He said this was encouraged by a “strong and determined statement” from the university that denounced the protest.
Even before the latest protests, Columbia had agreed to other changes amid pressure from federal officials. This includes banning face masks used to hide identity and hiring new public safety officers to arrest on campus.
It also portrayed the University of Washington protests. Quick response21 students were later suspended.
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