How has the US responded to Palestines protests against Israel ?
It appears that the response doesn’t fit the narrative of America being a democracy and the land of the free. It seems that freedom of speech as a right has no grounds in the US when it comes to Israel.
Some university administrators have called on law enforcement authorities to arrest protesters, remove camps, and break up sit-ins, while others have allowed camps to continue or reached agreements to end the protests.
On April 18, Columbia University called in the police only one day after students set up camp on campus in Manhattan.
On April 30, police again raided the camp and a building occupied by students and made hundreds of arrests.
University President Nemat Shafik, who labeled the protesters anti-Semitic, said the camp was an unauthorized protest that made the campus ‘unbearable’ for many Jewish students.
The University of California-Berkeley allowed a pro-Palestinian camp as long as it does not disrupt the functioning of the campus and does not pose a threat of violence.
Northwestern, Brown and Rutgers are among the universities that have reached agreements to remove tents.
Brown University will hold a vote on a possible divestment from companies linked to Israel.
Rutgers University reportedly agreed to establish an Arab cultural center and consider a department of Middle Eastern studies.
Democratic President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday that Americans have the right to demonstrate, but they have no right to unleash violence, though no evidence of organized violence by protesters have been presented.
Biden has faced criticism from protesters for providing Israel with money and weapons that allowed it to carry on with its genocidal war on Gaza.
Trump, the Republican nominee for the 2024 election, called the college protests a sign of tremendous hatred. On April 30, Trump described the Columbia University police attack on protesters as a pleasing sight.