Columbia University Suspends Protesters
Student demonstrators at Columbia University, the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests that have erupted at US colleges, began to be suspended after defying an ultimatum to disperse.
Authorities at the prestigious university in New York demanded that the protest encampment be cleared or students would face disciplinary action.
"These repulsive scare tactics mean nothing compared to the deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians," said a statement, read out by a student at a press conference after the deadline.
A few hours later, Columbia vice president of communications Ben Chang said the university had "begun suspending students as part of this next phase of our efforts to ensure safety on our campus."
He said the students had been warned they would be "placed on suspension, ineligible to complete the semester or graduate, and will be restricted from all academic, residential, and recreational spaces."
Meanwhile at the University of Texas at Austin, police clashed with protesters and made arrests while dismantling an encampment, adding to the more than 350 people detained across the United States over the weekend.
Protests against the Gaza war, with its high Palestinian civilian death toll, have posed a challenge to university administrators trying to balance free speech rights with complaints that the rallies have veered into anti-Semitism and hate.
For almost two weeks, a wave of protests against Israel's war in Gaza has swept through US university campuses from coast to coast, after around 100 protesters were arrested at Columbia on April 18.
Footage of police in riot gear summoned at various colleges to break up rallies have been viewed around the world, recalling the protest movement that erupted during the Vietnam War.
Protest organizers argue that their actions are aimed at the Israeli government and its prosecution of the conflict in Gaza.
With the school year wrapping up, administrators are also pointing to the need to maintain order on campus for exam studies.
