The pro-Palestinian demonstrations which have shaken American campuses for several weeks seek new life on Friday, after dispersals by the police, mass arrests and a severe call to order by the White House.
Early in the morning, police smoothly dismantled an encampment at New York University (NYU), at the institution’s request.
On other campuses, the police have intervened manu militari in recent days, such as at Columbia, in New York, and at UCLA, in Los Angeles. Nearly 2,000 people in total were arrested, according to a report established by several American media.
Since April 17, a new wave of mobilization for Gaza has swept across American campuses, from the Atlantic coast to California, evoking (to a lesser extent) the demonstrations against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to demanding an end to the conflict in Gaza, these students are calling on universities to sever their relations with Israel and disengage from their investments related to this country. They also denounce the almost unconditional support of the United States for their ally.
Israel is engaged in a massive offensive in the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for the Hamas attack on October 7 on its soil.
Thursday, during a speech, Democratic President Joe Biden, long silent on the demonstrations, insisted that “order must prevail”. This earned him both criticism from the right, who considered him too complacent, as well as indignation from supporters of the demonstrators. “There is a right to demonstrate, not a right to cause chaos,” said the octogenarian, candidate against Republican Donald Trump in the November presidential election.
His Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, sent a letter to university leaders in which he said he was “incredibly concerned by reports of anti-Semitic hatred against students on certain campuses,” according to CNN. “.
Freedom of expression
The protests have reignited the debate in the United States — already tense, even violent, since the Hamas attack — over freedom of expression, anti-Zionism and what constitutes anti-Semitism. On the one hand, students and teachers accuse their universities of seeking to censor political speech; on the other, several personalities, including elected representatives of Congress, affirm that the activists stir up hatred.
The issue could undermine Mr. Biden’s race for the White House. “This could be Biden’s Vietnam,” left-wing senator Bernie Sanders warned on CNN. “I really fear that President Biden is putting himself in a position where he alienates not only young people, but a large part of the Democratic base,” he added.
On the Republican side, Donald Trump described the demonstrators as “radical left freaks”, who must “stop now”.
The mobilization inspired pro-Palestinian activists across the world, including at McGill University in Montreal and at the prestigious Parisian school Sciences Po.
Unlike other institutions, Brown University, in the American state of Rhode Island, agreed with the demonstrators on the dismantling of their encampment in exchange for a vote on possible “divestment”.
