Two days after the forced evacuation of Columbia, US police raided the campus again: Just before dawn, tension exploded in California, as law enforcement in riot gear cleared a tent city at UCLA, arresting more than 130 people, also using – according to… CNN – Rubber bullets.
President Joe Biden said, “Americans have the right to protest, not to cause chaos,” trying to “clarify” at a time when “there are always those running to score political points.” In a not-so-veiled reference to Donald Trump, who waved the specter of “far-left extremists and agitators” by asking his supporters: “Where's Biden? Where's Gavin Newsom?”, the California governor cast doubt on the nighttime clashes on the UCLA campus.
“This is not the time for politics and so I want to be clear: Violent protests are not protected. Peaceful protests are protected,” Biden said in the televised message. The president continued, “Vandalism, smashing windows, closing universities, and forcing students to cancel classes are not peaceful protests, nor is threatening or intimidating people,” stressing that “opposition is necessary for democracy, but it should never lead to chaos.” America “is not a country.” An autocracy, but not even a lawless state, order must prevail.”
In fact, according to a new report by the NGO Armed Conflict and Incident Data Project, 99% of protests on campuses have been peaceful so far. New York began the crackdown (1,300 total arrests since the beginning of the crisis, according to New York Times estimates), with more than 300 arrests between Columbia and City College, but also on the Manhattan campus of Fordham University, a Jesuit university, and then moved even further. To Dallas and Dartmouth in New Hampshire and Tulane in New Orleans.
ANSA Biden, let's protect peaceful protests, not violent ones – North America – Ansa.it (handle) For the second time in two weeks, Columbia University teachers called for President Minouche Shafik to be censured. “Armed counterterrorism police and arrests are not the only way out of the crisis,” the group affiliated with the American Association of University Professors said. Brown University may have led the way: Pro-Palestinian students dismantled a tent city after the University of Rhode Island agreed to discuss ending financial ties with Israel with them.
But at UCLA, the night was dramatic: 25 students ended up in the hospital when groups of anti-Palestinian protesters attacked the camp. One of them, Youssef, who received 12 stitches in his head, said: “If I had been in Gaza, no one would have been able to treat me.” University of California Dean Gene Block spoke of “instigators” and described the attack on the camp as “unacceptable,” while Governor Newson’s office criticized the police intervention as “late” and “limited.”
It's a delicate balancing act for campus authorities, politicians in Washington, and the White House itself: to pressure from many Republicans who called for National Guard intervention, Biden responded with a firm “no,” even to those who asked him whether that was the case. The protests make him change his political options in the Middle East.
At the same time, protests are also spreading outside the United States: tension has returned to Paris after a meeting at the Institute of Political Sciences failed during the evacuation of the Sorbonne. Concerns are growing over the upcoming edition of the Eurovision contest in Sweden, as the organization reiterated that Palestinian flags will be banned in the arena (as they will not participate in the competition) while pro-Gaza protests are expected in Malmö.
With cautionary warnings for festival participants, such as the warning issued by Farnesina on the “Viaggiaresicuri” website or the warning issued by Israel to its citizens who will travel to the Swedish city for this occasion. From the Jewish state came a “special urgent” message from President Isaac Herzog, also related to the crisis in American universities, to support the world’s Jewish communities in light of the “dramatic resurgence of anti-Semitism.”
ANSA New job, Sciences Po closes its office in Paris tomorrow – Europe – Ansa.it Announcement in a letter to employees of the French University (ANSA)
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