University protests: Student activism challenges US stance on Israel-Palestine

Report by Ahmad Abdallah, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

In another chapter of student activism shaping US political discourse, Columbia University has left its mark on the landscape of political pressure, this time in solidarity with Gaza.

The story began with peaceful protests organized by students advocating for the Palestinian cause on the university campus, coinciding with the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip.

Similar peaceful protest movements were witnessed in other universities, notably Harvard, Pennsylvania, and Yale.

The demands varied from one campus to another but, focused primarily on ending the war, halting dealings with military companies supplying Israel with weapons, refusing research funds from Israel, and discontinuing investments with Israeli companies or contractors.

These actions were deemed by Jewish students and pro-Israel lobby groups as anti-semitic, accusing university administrations of failing to address them adequately.

As a result, presidents of several universities were summoned to testify before the House Education Committee, led by Republicans in the House of Representatives. This led to the resignations of the presidents of Harvard and Pennsylvania universities under the political and media pressure they faced.

The latest to testify was the president of Columbia University, Nemat Shafik, of Egyptian descent. American officials in Congress argued that Shafik's inaction to impose order in the university encouraged anti-semitism and hatred against Jews.

It is worth noting that Congress has the right to question any American citizen on any matter related to public affairs.

Shafik's interrogation and its implications, coupled with the approval of a massive US military aid package to Israel in Congress, prompted Columbia University students to escalate their protests.

Under pressure, Shafik took action against protesting students, issuing written warnings to those who refused to end the sit-ins.

In response, students intensified their protests and set up tents in the university courtyard, refusing to vacate.

For the second time in its history, police entered the university campus and arrested a hundred protesting students, with the first incident occurring in 1968 during the Vietnam War.

These arrests sparked student groups supporting Palestine, spreading protests to over 20 universities across the United States, from the East Coast to the West.

With force and arrests, US law enforcement faced escalating student protests, marked by the raising of symbols representing Hezbollah.

In contrast, Jewish students supported by the influential Jewish lobby in the United States presented slogans defending themselves against what they perceived as targeting and anti-semitism. This position is supported by members of Congress, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who accused Hamas of endorsing student movements.

These developments do not discount the political factor in the growing wave of university protests.

The United States is months away from the presidential elections, with the Republican and Democratic parties facing off. Even within the Democratic Party, there is a rise in the "uncommitted" faction, evident in the primary elections in several states.

Thus, American citizens, including university students, find themselves faced with two equally challenging options: To align with the Democratic Party, which historically supports Israel and its policies, or the more hardline Republican stance, which goes as far as recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.