Protests against the Israeli attack on Gaza have erupted in several US universities. The student protests there have entered their second week. Last Saturday (May 4), police arrested at least 25 more pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Virginia.
Al-Jazeera reported that more than two and a half thousand students have been arrested from campuses across the United States. In the meantime, graduation ceremony in universities is approaching.
It is feared that various university campuses in the United States may turn into battlefields around graduation ceremonies in the coming days.
At 47 US universities, students are protesting against Israeli aggression and genocide in Gaza. This protest has been going on since April 17. Since the beginning, the police have used excessive force to suppress this peaceful protest.
In this way, the rights activists protested the suppression of the protest and the arrest of the protesting students. They demanded to ensure the freedom of expression of the students.
Graduation ceremonies are scheduled for the end of this week at four universities hit by protests. The event is scheduled to take place this month or next June at several other universities, including New York's Columbia University, the epicenter of the protests.
The university authorities fear that the protesting students may disrupt the graduation ceremony. For this reason, the authorities are taking initiatives to strengthen the security system.
The protesting students have threatened that if their demands are not met, they are thinking of alternative programs including boycotting these events and walking out of the venue. In such circumstances, some universities have canceled these programs. Some are procrastinating.
The peaceful protests at the University of Virginia continued until Saturday morning. At that time a video spread among the students. In the video, police are seen detaining some protesting students from the campus lawn.
Apart from this, the police are using chemical sprays to quell the protests. After that the protest turned into a riot.
In a statement, University President Jim Ryan said that the protesters were detained when campus security informed the police that they would be protesting in tents last Friday night. However, it is not clear how many university students are among those detained.
Pro-Palestinians protest in front of the stage at the graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan. But this protest was peaceful. Campus police quickly surrounded the protesters and escorted them to the back of the stadium. But dozens of students dressed in flags, kaffiahs and graduation caps staged a university graduation ceremony.
A day later, Northeastern University and Ohio State University were supposed to hold the closing ceremony on Sunday, but the commencement ceremony was disrupted.
Meanwhile, apart from the United States, this protest has now spread to new countries. Students from France, UK, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, India, Lebanon, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Mexico have come to protest for the Palestinians.