By Zorian Edwards, Editor-In-Chief
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of individual staff members of The Panther Press. The situation is different from campus to campus. This article is meant to be an overview of the situation. Sources are linked within the article and below for more information.
If you have been on any social media or looking at the news at all, you have probably heard about the large amount of pro-Palestine protests popping up at college campuses around the country.
These movements were sparked when arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters were made at Columbia University on April 18. One of the groups involved in the protests at Columbia University is Apartheid Divest. “At universities across the nation, our movement is united in valuing every human life,” a statement from Apartheid Divest said. “As a diverse group united by love and justice, we demand our voices be heard against the mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.”
According to an analysis by The Washington Post, more than 1,200 people have been arrested in these college protests (as of May 5). “The outbreak of nearly 400 demonstrations is the most widespread since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel,” The Washington Post states. “From the Ivy League to small colleges, students have set up encampments and organized rallies and marches, with many demanding that their schools divest from Israeli corporations.”
What is this about?
The student-led pro-Palestine protests on college campuses follow a central idea: students wish for their colleges to withdraw their money/funds from Israeli companies or defense companies supplying weapons to Israel. This is because of the Israel-Hamas war which started in 2023 and is ongoing.
The protests are opposing the United States’s support for Israel in its counter-offensive stance. “Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has conducted a deadly and destructive counteroffensive,” The Hill said. “Nearly the entire 2.3 million population in Gaza has been displaced, and more than 34,000 people have been killed, according to Hamas-run health agencies. The United Nations has warned that famine is ‘imminent.’” Many universities have called police and other law enforcement agencies on campus because of the protests.
Asking colleges to pull funding for political or ethical reasons isn’t a new idea. This has been happening since the 1970s, when students asked schools to withdraw from investments that benefited South Africa under apartheid rule.
How has this affected the schools in question?
The effect has been different from campus to campus. Most campuses have increased security and law enforcement to help eliminate possible disruptions of final exams and graduation ceremonies.
Columbia University in particular has canceled its main graduation or commencement ceremony. Other schools have tried to reach agreements with student protesters. “The agreements at schools including Brown, Northwestern, and Rutgers stand out amid the chaotic scenes and 2,400-plus arrests on 46 campuses nationwide since April 17,” AP news reported on May 3. “Tent encampments and building takeovers have disrupted classes at some schools, including Columbia and UCLA.”
Is this happening in PA?
This is happening in Pennsylvania specifically at Temple University. According to CBS News, on April 25, over 100 student and staff pro-Palestinian protesters marched through Center City. The students walked out of their classes and rallied at the Bell Tower. Later, the Philly Palestine Coalition joined the students and rallied at City Hall. Together, they marched to Drexel University and later to Penn’s campus.
“I think for some universities, it might be just a delaying tactic to diffuse the protests,” said Ralph Young, a history professor who studies American dissent at Temple University in Philadelphia. “The end of the semester is happening now. And maybe by the time the next semester begins, there is a cease-fire in Gaza.”
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