Ever since October 7, there have been multiple protests to show their support for either
Israel or Palestine now more than ever. College campuses have had numerous protests
starting in April- even the ivy league schools are participating. Most protests take place on
campus lawns; students bring tents, signs, and Palestine flags. Students want their universities
to support a ceasefire, divest from companies that support Israel, and cut ties with Israeli
universities. A nonprofit organization that tracks protests has found that 97% of campus protests
were peaceful; less than twenty have resulted in violence or property damage.

At Columbia University, one of the schools with the most arrests, has said they are
having classes remotely. A week later at 12:30 am, protesters entered Hamilton Hall and they
renamed it “Hind’s Hall.” Hind Rajab was a six year old Palestinian girl, and she was killed by the
Israeli military.

Colombia’s president, Minouche Shafik, said that faculty and student organizers couldn’t
come to an agreement, but Students for Justice in Palestine, a Columbia student group that
centers around rights for Palestinians, has said that the negotiations were in “bad faith,” and
that they were threatened with suspension, eviction, and having the National Guard called on
them.

Some graduations have been affected as well; the University of Southern California had
a party instead of a graduation ceremony, and UC Berkeley’s ceremony was interrupted by
protesters, who were mostly students, but most graduations have been canceled. Students think
this is unfair since they didn’t have a proper high school graduation due to the pandemic.
Universities have started to suspend students and evict them, so they are at the risk of losing
credits, not graduating on time, losing tuition money or their financial aid, and some students are
willing to take that risk. A student named Ash has said, “We’re willing to make these sacrifices
and take these risks because we understand the risks that students in Gaza face simply for
existing.”

Over 2,700 students have been arrested or detained but that hasn’t stopped the
protests; if anything the arrests start more protests. Students from other schools have started to
also protest for the ones who got arrested. Faculty members have defended the arrested
students, saying the protests were peaceful and that they have the right to protest. Some
professors have been arrested while trying to stop the arrests.