Police and activists clash, students call intifada while seizing campuses

American police and anti-Israel encampment activists clashed at multiple colleges and universities on Wednesday, even as students occupied new campuses across the United States and beyond.

Texas State troopers marched and rode on horses into University of Texas Austin on Wednesday to arrest and disperse anti-Israel activists attempting to set up an encampment in the emulation of Columbia University. Thirty-four people were arrested in response to the Austin arm of the National Students for Justice in Palestine endeavor to seize campuses and force the adoption of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions policies.

Governor Greg Abbott responded to the encampment by sending the state troopers, who, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety, had been deployed "to prevent any unlawful assembly and to support UT Police in maintaining the peace by arresting anyone engaging in any sort of criminal activity, including criminal trespass."

"These protesters belong in jail," Abbot said on social media on Wednesday. "Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled."

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Palestine Solidarity Committee Austin Texas said that the arrests were a "horrific act of violent repression" and a violation of first amendment rights. The anti-Israel group said that they would continue to hold protests on Thursday.

"[UT President] Jay Hartzell, Greg Abbott, and our local and university officials have made it clear that they DO NOT care about the principles of free speech they so proudly uplift at every given opportunity and they especially don’t care about any of their students, let alone their Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students," said PSC. "We join our faculty’s call to continue to protest in the face of oppression! We call on our community to resist the draconian tactics of intimidation employed by our university and to reaffirm our demands tomorrow."

Arrests at the University of Southern California and Emerson College

The same day, ninety-three protesters were arrested for trespassing at the University of Southern California by the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD said that patrols would remain on campus into Thursday.

USC had called on student activists to disperse, warning that the LAPD would arrest those who refused. The school also warned that the campus had been closed because of the encampment. USC Students for Justice in Palestine responded to the attempts to close down the encampment by calling for reinforcements.

Early Thursday morning, SJP Emerson College said that the Boston Police Department had broken into their encampment and arrested at least 50 students.

BARRICADES UP AT EMERSON COLLEGE IN BOSTON pic.twitter.com/L93VZPAKJ8

— Calla (@CallaWalsh) April 25, 2024

Emerson College President Jay Bernhardt said in a Wednesday statement that the BPD and the Boston Fire Department had notified him that protesters were in violation of city ordinances by occupying Boylston Place Alley, which is not solely owned by the school. In addition to blocking public pedestrian access, there were noise violations and fire hazards.

"Of additional concern, Emerson has received credible reports that some protestors are engaging in targeted harassment and intimidation of Jewish supporters of Israel and students, staff, faculty, and neighbors seeking to pass through the alley," said Bernhardt. "This type of behavior is unacceptable on our campus. To ensure the safety of our community, Emerson has placed members of the Windwalker Security staff at the Boylston Place alley to ensure safe and consistent access to the alley as required by law.'

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, has seen activists occupying buildings barricade themselves against police intrusions over recent days, and New York University saw police arrest and remove protesters from Gould Plaza on Monday.

NYU encampments

"The NYPD will always protect the rights to protest and free speech while ensuring the safety of all New Yorkers," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Operations Kaz Daughtry. "Our officers are professionals who will continue to be firm but fair when it comes to public safety."

The situation at NYU tonight was unreal #nyu4palestine pic.twitter.com/rDw5sPWNya

— Liz (@lzreads) April 23, 2024

NYU Palestine Solidarity Coalition said that over 140 arrests were made. NYU Presiden Linda Mills said in a statement that they had set up barriers to ensure safety and not to allow further activists to join, but the situation had escalated.

"We made no move to clear the plaza at that point because high among the University's aims was to avoid any escalation or violence. So, the University was deeply disturbed when, early this afternoon, additional protesters — many of whom we believe are not affiliated with the University — suddenly breached the barriers that had been put in place at the north side of the plaza and joined the others already on the plaza," said Mills." Many refused to leave. We also learned that there were intimidating chants and several antisemitic incidents reported. Given the foregoing and the safety issues raised by the breach, we asked for assistance from the NYPD. The police urged those on the plaza to leave peacefully but ultimately made a number of arrests."

NYU SPC said Wednesday that the walls were set up to prevent expression of free speech, and there was no breach but an orderly entry of people into the campus. They accused the administration of weaponizing Judaism and student safety to conceal Israeli "apartheid, occupation, and genocide in Gaza" and to "please its cowardly zionist donors and trustees."

Pictures and videos published by NYU SJP on Wednesday seem to indicate that while the encampment had been cleared, protests in front of the campus continued under heavy NYPD supervision.

"NYPD has destroyed our liberated zone and arrested students and faculty," NYU SJP said on Instagram Monday.

Protests at Harvard

Harvard University became one of the latest campuses to be host to an encampment on Wednesday, as a Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee video showed, with students screaming and rushing onto a lawn to quickly set up tents. The encampment came less than a day after PSC was suspended from the campus.

Incredible video from @HarvardPSC Just yesterday, Harvard University placed the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) under suspension. Less than 24 hours later, students launched a Gaza solidarity encampment. THE MORE THEY TRY TO SILENCE US THE LOUDER WE WILL BE pic.twitter.com/SnWTuiAan7

— National Students for Justice in Palestine (@NationalSJP) April 24, 2024

"There is only one solution: Intifada, revolution," the protesters chanted in a video posted by Harvard Chabad.

Harvard Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi called on the university to remove the "Jew haters and Hamas lovers" violating the campus code of conduct.

"I’m hearing from first-year students who, while studying for exams in their dorm room, are being confronted with terrifying chants of globalize the Intifada - a call for the murder of Jews," said Zarchi in a post on X last Wednesday. "I’m now receiving calls from their parents who are frightened to learn that Hamas supporters are being allowed to camp out in Harvard Yard - in brazen defiance to the university’s explicit guidelines - and chant in support of terrorism and call for the murder of Jews."

Activists also continued to call for revolution in front of Columbia University, according to a Within Our Lifetime video chanting, "New York to Gaza, long live the Intifada."

New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov posted a video on Wednesday of a protester outside of the campus carrying a sign with a picture of Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades member Zarakia Zubeidi, who had been involved in multiple shooting attacks on civilians.

Journalist Leeroy Johnson published a video on Monday of a protester leading Columbia activists in a chant that meant, "Mother of the Shahid, I wish my mother was in your place."

"This terrifies because they realize they can't do S**t to us," explained the protester.

WOL leader Nerdeen Kiswani was also present in the video, leading a chant calling for an intifada. On Wednesday, Kiswani shared on social media a Monday letter from Columbia warning her that she was persona non grata on all Columbia property "due to alarming and concerning behavior."

While American police action removed several encampments to join the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Washington University in St. Louis for having cleared campuses, the National SJP call to action last Wednesday continued to spread onto new campuses on Thursday.

On Wednesday, encampments were established at the University of New Mexico and Evergreen State College. Pro-Palestinian organizations said they would set up an encampment at Seattle's University of Washington.

On Thursday, another Australian encampment was established at the University of Melbourne to join the camp at Sydney University. The international expansion also included a Sciences Po Paris encampment on Wednesday. Canada also has an encampment at the University of Alberta.

The new encampments join campus occupations at Yale University, MIT, Tufts University, The New School, the University of Michigan, the University of Rochester, UC Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.