US campus protests for Palestine spread to the University of Pennsylvania
Social media video verified by Al Jazeera shows students at UPenn setting up a “Gaza encampment” the likes of which have been seen at Columbia University and on other campuses.
Many student protests have been met with violent crackdowns by local police departments.
UPenn seized for Palestine pic.twitter.com/yXldxvVd4D
— hate5six (@hate5six) April 25, 2024
The protesters at George Washington University are not planning to leave anytime soon
The students here at George Washington University have the same template as the students at Columbia. They’re looking for the university to divest, to declare what interests they have in companies linked to Israel, and also, they’re looking to make sure that anyone who is involved in these protests will get an amnesty afterwards.
However, in the last hour or so, we’ve also seen a number of barriers placed on the edge of the square. They were very quickly removed, but they’re not far away. The number of police in nearby streets has increased. We are told the Secret Service was here as well, but they have cycled away and are no longer on site.
A number of accesses to the square have been blocked, and in the building over my shoulder, the police have set up essentially a temporary command structure where they are talking about what they can do. Now, seven o’clock local time … was given essentially as a deadline for the encampment to go away. It’s not clear then what the university administrators will do.
What is clear is that the Metropolitan Police Department has been called in to help because the numbers are just too big for George Washington’s own police to deal with. The mayor has said that it has to be done peacefully if the protesters are to be moved.
The people here are not planning to leave anytime soon. They will stay until the university meets its demands.
Student pro-Palestine protests continue across the US
Signs are displayed in front of Deering Meadow, where an encampment of students are protesting in support of Palestinians at the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Illinois, on April 25
Student protesters stand watch along the perimeter of an encampment supporting Palestinians at the Columbia University campus in New York City, on April 25
Ayman Sawa, a pro-Palestinian protester who drove down from Dallas, shouts words of encouragement to students at the University of Texas as they gather for a second day in Austin, on April 25
Students gather at an encampment as they protest in support of Palestinians at the University of California in Los Angeles, California, on April 25
Deadline passes for pro-Palestinian student protesters to clear George Washington University
We are an hour past the deadline that the authorities said they wanted the people to move out of College Square, right here in the heart of Washington, DC, to clear the encampment.
Just in the last hour, we have heard from the university saying that the occupation is illegal, is against university policy, and they are continuing discussions with the metropolitan police – the local police department in Washington, DC – about how best to clear the area and return it back to the way it was 14 hours ago.
Oh so you do know occupation is illegal, so why are you supporting Israel...
Pro-Palestinian student protesters on ‘morally sound’ side of history
Wearing the robes they wore to graduation, a former student of George Washington University told Al Jazeera’s correspondent Alan Fisher why the students had a right to protest in support of the people in Gaza.
“I believe that students have always been on the progressive side of history, the morally sound side,” the former student, RK, told Fisher at the protest site. “These students are doing just that. They have every right to free speech. They have every right to be here,” RK said.
“They [the university management] ask us for donations. What are they using our money for? [Student protesters] have the right to question that. So to threaten calling the police on your own students is, in my opinion, very extreme. Instead, they should listen to what the students are saying, which is to stop funding Israel. To stop funding a genocide. And to allow aid in [to Gaza].”
Students and others demonstrate at a protest encampment at University Yard in support of Palestinians in Gaza, at George Washington University in Washington, DC, on April 25
Blocks from the White House, US students stand steadfast with Gaza
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/25/blocks-from-the-white-house-us-students-stand-steadfast-with-gaza
Chants of “free Palestine” and cheers erupted as dozens of Georgetown University students joined the pro-Palestine, antiwar protests at the neighbouring George Washington University campus in the heart of the US capital city.
Students, professors and activists from across Washington, DC, have gathered to show solidarity with Palestinians amid the war on Gaza and demand an end to what they say is complicity by their educational institutions in Israel’s human rights abuses.
Student activism around Gaza has spread to universities and colleges across the US, and it is now taking centre stage in the country’s politics.
Student protesters gather at the George Washington University campus, on April 25
Protesters at George Washington University defy deadline to leave campus
It’s been three hours since the university said it wanted to see the college yard cleared of the tents and the protesters. But there are still a number of people there – more than 200. Numbers have gone down as you would expect, and perhaps the police are playing a waiting game.
But those that are in this square are making provisions to stay the night. They are bringing in more tents. They are bringing in more food. They are making sure that the people there have water as well.
Students demonstrate at a protest encampment at George Washington University in Washington, DC, on April 25
I'm starting to feel proud of Gen Z, maybe there will be a better future after all. Social media does a lot of harm, but also is finally making a breakthrough in the 75 years of Israel enjoying impunity in its occupation of Palestine. And for the USA, hopefully it will lead to a reversal of the ever increasing restrictions on freedom. Politicians will need to start listening or they will have no voter base left in the future.
