New era | Student protests against the Israeli offensive in Gaza spread

Student protests against the Israeli military assault on Gaza following Hamas’ unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel have spread to several countries.

Here you will find an overview of the most important campaigns.

United States

Protesters have gathered on at least 40 U.S. college campuses since April 17, often setting up tent camps to protest the rising death toll in the Gaza Strip.

According to American media, almost 2,000 people have been arrested during demonstrations reminiscent of the protests against the war in Vietnam.

In recent days, police have forcibly dismantled several student sit-ins, including one at New York University at the request of its administrators.

Protesters barricaded inside Columbia University, the New York epicenter of student protests, complained of police brutality as officers cleared the faculty.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, hundreds of police cleared a camp, tore down barriers and detained more than 200 protesters.

Dozens of police in riot gear used chemical sprays to break up a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Virginia, student newspaper The Cavalier Daily reported.

Officers tore away the umbrellas some protesters were using as shields, engaged some and tore down tents, according to a video posted by the newspaper.

Brown University in Rhode Island reached an agreement with students to remove their camp from its grounds in exchange for considering divesting from “companies that enable and profit from the genocide in Gaza.”

President Joe Biden broke his silence on the protests on Thursday, emphasizing that “order must prevail.”

France

Police on Friday forcibly evacuated protesters from a pro-Gaza sit-in at Sciences Po in Paris, the country’s top political science school.

Officials said 91 people were arrested.

Jean Basseres, interim director of Sciences Po, rejected a student request to investigate the institution’s ties with Israeli universities.

Outside the nearby Sorbonne University, the Union of Jewish Students in France set up a ‘dialogue table’ on Friday.

“Jewish students have their place in this dialogue,” said Joann Sfar, a cartoonist who has been invited as a guest speaker.

He said he understood why students were “outraged about what is happening in the Middle East.”

At Paris-Dauphine University, administrators banned a conference involving Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian expert on international law who has been outspoken in condemning the “genocide” in Gaza.

The ban, introduced because there was a risk of public disorder, has been reversed by the judicial authorities.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday condemned university blockades at Sciences Po and other French universities that “prevented debate.”

Germany

Police intervened on Friday to evacuate protesters outside Humboldt University in central Berlin.

A number of protesters were “forcibly removed” after refusing to leave for another location, police said.

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner criticized the protest, saying on X, formerly Twitter, that the city did not want to see events like those in the United States or France.

Canada

Students have protested against the war in Gaza in several cities, including Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

Hundreds of protesters have joined the first and largest camp, at McGill University in Montreal, despite the threat of a police summons.

They have pledged to remain there until McGill cuts all financial and academic ties with Israel.

University officials said Wednesday they wanted to remove the camp immediately, claiming certain protesters were not members of the student body.

Australia

Hundreds of rival supporters of Gaza and Israel faced off at Sydney University on Friday, shouting slogans and waving flags.

Apart from a few heated arguments, the protest and counter-protest were peaceful.

Ceasefire protesters have been camping on a green lawn in front of the university for ten days. They want it to cut ties with Israeli institutions and reject funding from arms companies.

Ireland

University students at Trinity College Dublin began a sit-in on Friday, describing the protest as a “camp of solidarity with Palestine.”

Mexico

Dozens of students from the country’s largest university, UNAM, set up a camp in the capital on Thursday, chanting “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will conquer.”

They want the Mexican government to cut all ties with Israel.

Switzerland

About a hundred students have occupied the entrance to a building at the University of Lausanne since Thursday, calling for an academic boycott of Israel and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The peaceful sit-in will last until Monday.