All eyes are on college campuses as simmering tensions over the Israel-Hamas war boil over into outright confrontation. The growing intensity of pro-Palestinian protests has been met with an aggressive crackdown from school administrators and police — leading to a wave of arrests, suspensions and class cancellations. The spreading protests come as the death toll in Gaza rises past 34,000 and the humanitarian crisis grows more dire. Student protesters are calling for administrators to divest from companies with ties to Israel and support a ceasefire, Axios reports. Jewish students on several campuses say criticism of Israel has veered into antisemitism and made them feel unsafe, the Associated Press reports.
The scale of the unrest is beyond anything universities have experienced since the Israeli-Palestinian turmoil began on Oct. 7. It's tearing apart faculties and student bodies, drawing in politicians and donors, and feeding new rounds of escalation. The campus chaos is hitting new levels as Jewish students and faculty members celebrate Passover. Columbia's campus has become the epicenter of the unrest in the U.S. All classes were virtual Monday after more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters who had camped out on the green were arrested and suspended. A crowd of Columbia faculty members walked out in solidarity with arrested students. Encampments of pro-Palestinian protesters similar to the one at Columbia have popped up on other campuses, including Michigan, Berkeley, NYU and MIT At Yale, police arrested around 50 pro-Palestinian protesters on Monday and charged them with trespassing. After the arrests, the protest swelled even further, with a large crowd of students blocking an intersection, per the Yale Daily News. Harvard has closed Harvard Yard to the public. The university also suspended the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee through the end of the year and ordered students in the group to "cease all organizational activities" or risk expulsion, the Harvard Crimson reports.