About 100 people were arrested on Saturday morning as police dismantled a pro-Palestinian encampment at Northeastern University in response to concerns about antisemitism on college campuses. The Northeastern University Police Department detained individuals as they began clearing the unauthorized encampment on the Boston campus. Students who were arrested were released after showing valid university IDs and will face disciplinary action.
Northeastern University stated that the encampment started as a student demonstration but was later infiltrated by professional organizers with no affiliation to the university. Protesters allegedly used antisemitic slurs during a demonstration Friday night, including “Kill the Jews,” leading the university to take action, saying it cannot tolerate such hate on its campus. However, Huskies for a Free Palestine, a student activist group at Northeastern, denied the claims of yelling antisemitic slurs and stated that the protest was primarily made up of students.
Pro-Palestinian protests have been taking place at various college campuses across the nation, calling on universities to divest their endowments from companies supplying weapons to the Israel Defense Forces. Similar encampments have been broken up by law enforcement at Columbia University, the University of Texas in Austin, the University of Southern California, Yale University, and Emory University, among others. Student protests have also occurred at New York University, the University of California, Brown University, the University of Michigan, and Harvard.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the protests on U.S. campuses, referring to the pro-Palestinian encampments as “antisemitic mobs” engaged in “horrific” activities. Netanyahu compared the protests to events at German universities in the 1930s and called for them to be condemned unequivocally. The crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests highlights tensions at colleges across the country and the broader debate around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the role of universities in divestment decisions.
The police clearing of a pro-Palestinian encampment at Northeastern University underscores the ongoing student activism around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and divestment from companies supporting the Israel Defense Forces. The arrest of around 100 individuals at Northeastern reflects a broader trend of law enforcement cracking down on student protests at various college campuses nationwide. The differing accounts of events at Northeastern University, with the university alleging antisemitic slurs were used and student groups denying this, add to the complexities of the situation and the deep divisions on these issues.
The tensions and arrests at Northeastern University are part of a larger pattern of activism and crackdowns surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on college campuses. While student protests continue to call for divestment and raise awareness about the conflict, authorities and university officials are grappling with how to address these demonstrations and maintain campus safety. The criticisms from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu further highlight the international attention these protests are garnering and the broader political implications of student activism in relation to the Palestinian cause.
