9621 Agnes Crossing, Lake Suzanneview, New Mexico Island 84604-9295.
(Radio France International).- Statue George Washington She was covered with a keffiyeh and a flag Palestine. There were tents of students standing around in one of the main
(Radio France International).- Statue George Washington She was covered with a keffiyeh and a flag Palestine. There were tents of students standing around in one of the main squares of the university, which bears the name of the American liberator.
“Free, free Palestine…free, free, free Palestine”: “Free Palestine” was chanted by students, Muslims, Jews, Catholics from different parts of the world who captured the Plaza de la. George Washington University after Colombia spread this form of protest to more than 60 universities countries and other countries in England, France, Japan, Australia and Canada.
“These protests are unprecedented in terms of scale, number and spread,” says Samar Saeed, a Palestinian-American pursuing a doctorate in history at Georgetown University who joined the camp on the first day.
According to Samar, students know that they have power, that they can stop institutions from operating, that they have the freedom to protest and demand protection of their rights, as stated in the Constitution. “They show society that USA invaded many countries in the name Freedom of expression And democracybut now students are censored and repressed for expressing their opposition Israel“, he expresses.
“Students are wondering why they are being arrested, imprisoned and subjected to so much repression if they are only criticizing the current genocide,” Samar adds.
On the first day of the protest in George Washington, there were armed police on the rooftops of buildings near the university. A similar situation occurred in Indiana University where was snipers in the first days of the protest.
In this regard, at the request of the administration, counter-terrorism units of the New York police were present at Columbia University. University of Texas In Austin, he deployed state police heavily to try to break up camps and arrest those who resisted.
Photo: Reuters
To date, authorities have arrested at least 900 students and teachers throughout the country, according to estimates Washington Post. In fact, the arrest of the presidential candidate from Green Party, Jill Stein, for protesting genocide at Washington University in St. Louis. Additionally, professors have been seen on social media being arrested for supporting students, as has happened to Caroline Folin, a professor of economics, and Noelle McAfee, director of the philosophy department at Emory University in Atlanta.
The 53 students who participated in the camps had their subsidized housing on campus and in some cases, such as at Barnard, removed. Colleague, they were given only 15 minutes to remove things from the apartment.
Something similar happened to George Washington University students who, after leaving the university, jail They found that they had nowhere to sleep because they evacuated from their apartments. In cities that are so expensive and where housing is so limited, rent is a tool of intimidation.
Immigrant students who depend on a student visa to stay in the United States are constantly threatened by politicians to revoke their visa. visa.
Senator Marco RubioThe Florida Republican said he would introduce legislation requiring the Biden administration cancel visas any foreign visitor who “actively” supports Hamas. Blondewho received over a million dollars in donations into his campaign from the outside Israeli lobby, He said he would push another bill to remove federal funds from universities that do not suppress protests that support “terrorist activities.”
In turn, the President of the Congress Michael Johnson went to the Columbia University campus to speak to students, asked resignation of the university presidentMinouche Shafik, for failing to act decisively against alleged anti-Semitic attacks by students.
“It is disgusting that Colombia has allowed these lawless agitators and radicals to gain power. If this is not quickly contained and if these threats and intimidation do not stop, the time for the National Guard will come. We have to clean up these campuses,” Johnson said as students booed.
It should be noted that after the arrest 108 students V Columbia University It sparked a wave of protests across the country, NYPD Patrol Chief John Chell told the student newspaper. Colombian Spectator that “the arrested students were peaceful, did not offer any resistance and expressed what they wanted to say peacefully.”
“Censorship and surveillance are everywhere, so many people have to cover their faces. I myself am already in the Canary Mission… They are trying to show us in a negative light, and this happens both online and in real life,” said Iklil Baumush, a student at Georgetown University, George Washington University, where nine students were suspended and arrested. to date. .
Canary Mission is a difficult to crawl web page that creates public profiles students, activists, teachers and organizations that support liberation of Palestine and criticize Israel for its occupation and military campaign in the Gaza Strip. Style black listas in the days of McCarthyism, the purpose of which is social profiling and harm to the professional future of these people and organizations.
Although police have fenced off camps at many universities to prevent outside supporters from joining the movement, the number of supporters continues to grow. Former students, teachers, students’ families and university staff have formed support groups via WhatsApp.
As a correspondent and graduate of Columbia University, our correspondent Cristobal Vazquez was included in a group of approximately 500 graduates provide support with legal, financial, logistical, emotional, informational, housing and transportation advice.
“We’re trying to create a sense of community in the camp so people feel safer and more comfortable. We read history, poetry, do cultural dances, celebrate Jewish religious traditions, and read the Torah. We help the students who are most impacted by the university’s decisions,” explains Alejandro Rojas, a Colombian-born student who is also a US Army veteran who has visited Arab countries on military missions.
Photo: Reuters
Alejandro, 26, emphasizes that there is a strong sense of unity: “Everything happens with love, with pure intention, and although they protest, they also demonstrate the positivity that comes from solidarity between students.” Alejandro, grateful for what the United States has given him, feels that basic freedoms are under threat, but wants to continue to fight for them: “Day by day, more universities and more students are joining our movement and contributing to our progress. “More and more people are expressing their opinions and refusing to remain silent.”
“I believe many people have lost faith and for good reason. Democrats and Republicans turned out to be two sides of the same coin and literally the same coin, because both parties only seek profitability and line their pockets with money through arms deals,” emphasizes Iklil Bukhmoush, adding that the United States is, in fact, are the epicenter of the glorified military business, and have been for decades, but people are already aware of it.
Young people are important before the elections because in 2024 generation Z-which usually includes those born in the mid-90s – will represent more 40 million potential votersincluding eight million young people reaching voting age in 2022. millennialsThey represent nearly a fifth of the American electorate and are a powerful electoral force this year.
This population played a key role in the 2022 midterm elections when it prevented Republicans from gaining a majority in Congress; and in the 2020 presidential election, when Democrat Joe Biden won the youth vote by more than a margin twenty%. However, the military operation and the almost empty check from the US to Israel, already marked by several warnings to Israel about the need to protect civilians, caused growing resistance, and only 19% voters among 18 and 34 years approves of Biden’s response to the war. To this we must add the growing dissatisfaction of students and the effect that police arrests of young people trying to demonstrate peacefully are having on public opinion.
“It appears that Joe Biden and the Democratic Party are trying to lose voters under 30. Just this week, crackdowns have been introduced that will restrict the medium (TikTok) that Generation Z uses to express their support and organization,” says a young man, who prefers not to give his name and covers his face for safety reasons, at the George University camp Washington.
Photo: Reuters
You might be interested > Video | More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Boston University
“On April 23, 1968, hundreds of Columbia University students stormed the university’s Hamilton Hall, taking Dean Coleman hostage. In the days that followed, five campus buildings were occupied. The occupiers demanded that Columbia stop a construction project that would gentrify Harlem, an end to a secret CIA-funded research project, and amnesty for protesting students,” reads a brochure students handed out to inform marchers.
The pamphlet explains that the occupation finally ended on April 29, when the New York City police stormed the occupied buildings, leaving almost 700 arrests. In response, faculty went on strike and the campus closed for the rest of the semester. In the weeks that followed, new jobs appeared on campus and in the surrounding area. In the end, the Colombian administration gave in to almost all the demands of the occupiers.
However, precedent aside, the focus should be on Palestine, as Jared Kannel, a Jewish student at Columbia University, argues: “When we talk about anti-Semitism on campus, we take the focus away from Gaza and Palestine, and they give it to me. “I’m very safe on campus and it’s a distraction because they don’t want us to keep talking about the ongoing massacres in Gaza and Palestine by the IDF,” he stresses.
Source: Aristegui Noticias
As an experienced journalist and author, Mary has been reporting on the latest news and trends for over 5 years. With a passion for uncovering the stories behind the headlines, Mary has earned a reputation as a trusted voice in the world of journalism. Her writing style is insightful, engaging and thought-provoking, as she takes a deep dive into the most pressing issues of our time.
