Police said the arrests were made in Washington, DC, as a US-wide crackdown continues on student-led protests in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Police in the US Capitol have dispersed a student protest encampment at George Washington University, one of dozens of tent camps set up on campuses across the country to support Palestinians in Gaza.
The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement statement that she “decided to disperse” the demonstrators on Wednesday morning after “a gradual escalation in the volatility of the protest”. He did not specify what exactly that means.
“During the operation, arrests were made for assault on a police officer and unlawful entry,” the department said.
Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference Wednesday that 33 arrests had been made.
The Gaza encampment at George Washington University is one of dozens that have sprung up around the world since late April to protest Israel’s war on the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Students in the United States as well as Canada, the United Kingdom, France and elsewhere are demanding an end to the Israeli military offensive, which has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians since early October.
They also call on their universities to divest from any companies complicit in Israeli human rights violations, among other demands.
The arrests at George Washington University are part of a similar wave of police crackdowns on U.S. college campuses, including New York’s Columbia University, the University of Chicago and the University of California, Los Angeles. .
University administrators accused pro-Palestinian protesters of using anti-Semitic language and creating a dangerous environment on campus.
The students rejected the claims, which they say are aimed at distracting people from what is happening in the Gaza Strip.
“This is meant to distract from the genocide in Gaza and distract from our demands,” Mariam, a Jewish student protester at George Washington University, told Tel Aviv Tribune late last week.
US politicians – including President Joe Biden, a Democrat and staunch supporter of Israel – have criticized the Gaza encampments.
Republican James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, had planned to hold a hearing Wednesday on the response to the George Washington University encampment.
But after police dispersed the pro-Palestinian demonstrators, the session, which was to hear testimony from Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser and Smith, head of the MPD, was canceled.
In a statement On Wednesday morning, Comer said he thanked the mayor “for finally clearing” the encampment and credited the planned hearing with putting pressure on officials to act.