PHOTOS: Arrests seen at pro-Palestine college protests

(NewsNation) — Students at universities across the country are protesting Israeli military action in Gaza, with many recently setting up tent encampments on their campuses.

Along with protesting the Israeli offensive that has killed an estimated 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza and spread widespread devastation in the area, students are urging university officials to divest from companies that support Israel’s military efforts.

Groups of students setting up these encampments are working indepedently, although they say they’ve been inspired by protests at other schools, including one at Columbia University in New York where more than 100 demonstrators were arrested.

Police have been brought into other protests, as well. In response, some colleges have pivoted their plans for graduation ceremonies.

The New York Civil Liberties Union in a statement on Tuesday cautioned universities against being too quick to call in law enforcement. Other organizations have also criticized what they see as a suppression of students’ free speech.

“Officials should not conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism or use hate incidents as a pretext to silence political views they oppose,” said Donna Lieberman, the group’s executive director.

Some students, though, say they are concerned that some criticism of Israel has veered into antisemitism. Protesters, though, point out that many Jewish students have joined in their cause, and that some have faced antisemitism because they support an independent Palestine. Muslim and specifically Palestinian students, protesters at Columbia University said at a news conference earlier this week, have also not felt safe on campus in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Columbia University

University of Texas at Austin

University of Southern California

Emory University

Emerson College

Harvard

The Associated Press contributed to this report.