HT News Desk | Written by Vaishnawi Sinha | Edited by Aniruddha Dhar
May 08, 2024
Dutch police resorted to using a bulldozer when a pro-Palestine protest inside Amsterdam University campus turned violent.
The police and pro-Palestine protestors clashed inside the campus of Amsterdam University when the march turned violent. Police were seen using batons on protestors when they attempted to march past the Holocaust Monument on their way to Amsterdam's city centre.
\
Students and employees of the University of Amsterdam take part in a pro-Palestine rally on campus (Reuters)(REUTERS)
Thousands marched in Amsterdam on Tuesday, finally convening at a central university and putting barricades on the narrow canal-facing road in front of the campus buildings. However, the Dutch police resorted to using bulldozers to knock down these barricades to avoid escalations in the march.
Videos from the protest showed the police using bulldozers to remove the barricades set up by pro-Palestine protestors, with officers wielding batons and shieled beating up protestors and removing tents.
Earlier in the day a crowd of several hundred had gathered, chanting slogans against the war in Gaza and denouncing Israel’s ongoing military operations. "Free, Free Palestine!", protesters shouted. "The people united will never be defeated."
"Students and staff describe the use of pepper spray, police batons, police dogs and bulldozers to forcefully remove them. People were injured because of this excessive violence," a group calling itself Dutch Scholars for Palestine said in a statement.
The University of Amsterdam also said in a statement that what started out as a peaceful march to show solidarity with Palestine soon turned violent, with protestors turning hostile, getting violent and burning an Israeli flag.
Protesters had ignored requests by the university and the mayor to leave the campus, police said. They further said that a total of 169 people were detained from the rally, and all but four of the protestors were released a few hours later.
One officer suffered hearing damage, a police spokeswoman said, adding that it was still unclear how many other people may have been injured. "The police's input was necessary to restore order. We see the footage on social media. We understand that those images may appear as intense," police said.
Tensions remain high in universities across the United States, now spreading to Europe, after a pro-Palestine movement launched by Columbia University nearly a month ago. Since April 18, just over 2,600 people have been arrested on 50 campuses, figures based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.
(With inputs from Reuters, AP)
CAMBRIDGE
Scores protest against Gaza war outside universityMousami Bakshi,Brian Farmer
Mousumi Bakshi/BBC News
Scores of people have taken part in a demonstration against the Gaza war in Cambridge
More than 100 people have protested against the war in Gaza in one of the UK's most famous student cities.
A demonstration took place in Cambridge alongside the setting up of a protest camp outside King's College.
One student said pro-Palestinian protesters wanted Cambridge University to "disclose" links to companies and institutions "complicit in Israel's genocide".
The university said it would not tolerate "any form of discrimination, intimidation, incitement, bullying or harassment".
Scores of people have taken part in a demonstration against the Gaza war in Cambridge
More than 100 people have protested against the war in Gaza in one of the UK's most famous student cities.
A demonstration took place in Cambridge alongside the setting up of a protest camp outside King's College.
One student said pro-Palestinian protesters wanted Cambridge University to "disclose" links to companies and institutions "complicit in Israel's genocide".
The university said it would not tolerate "any form of discrimination, intimidation, incitement, bullying or harassment".
Mousumi Bakshi/BBC News
One demonstrator said she was "part of a global collective which is a struggle for Palestinian liberation"
One protester, who declined to give the PA Media news agency her name, described herself as "part of a global collective which is a struggle for Palestinian liberation".
She said protesters were demanding that the university "disclose all of its research collaborations and financial ties with companies and institutions complicit in Israel's genocide and then to divest from these".
Another protester told the BBC that demonstrators needed to say something about "Israel’s occupation of Palestine".
"The university was not listening to us, was not hearing our demands," he said.
“It was not disclosing any of its financial ties which we know it has.
"And so we are taking a stand; we are escalating the situation.”
Joe Giddens/PA Media
Cambridge University said it was fully committed to 'freedom of speech'
Police said no arrests had been made at the protest.
The Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign has urged people to write to the university to express support for the encampment and "their demands"
A Cambridge University spokesman said the university and King's College, on whose lawn the tents were set up, were operating normally.
"The university is fully committed to academic freedom and freedom of speech within the law and we acknowledge the right to protest," it said in a statement.
"We ask everyone in our community to treat each other with understanding and empathy. Our priority is the safety of all staff and students.
"We will not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia and any other form of racial or religious hatred."
Cambridge University said it was fully committed to 'freedom of speech'
Police said no arrests had been made at the protest.
The Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign has urged people to write to the university to express support for the encampment and "their demands"
A Cambridge University spokesman said the university and King's College, on whose lawn the tents were set up, were operating normally.
"The university is fully committed to academic freedom and freedom of speech within the law and we acknowledge the right to protest," it said in a statement.
"We ask everyone in our community to treat each other with understanding and empathy. Our priority is the safety of all staff and students.
"We will not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia and any other form of racial or religious hatred."
Mousumi Bakshi/BBC News
Protesters have set up a camp outside King's College
The university has issued "protest guidance" which said: "All members of our community should feel safe and we will never tolerate any form of discrimination, intimidation, incitement, bullying or harassment."
Protesters have set up a camp outside King's College
The university has issued "protest guidance" which said: "All members of our community should feel safe and we will never tolerate any form of discrimination, intimidation, incitement, bullying or harassment."
Pro-Palestinian protesters retake MIT encampment as University of Chicago clears demonstration
By —Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated Press
By —Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago on Tuesday as tension ratcheted up in standoffs with demonstrators at other college campuses across the U.S. — and increasingly, in Europe.
READ MORE: Roiled by protests, Columbia University nixes major commencement ceremony
Nearly three weeks into a movement launched by a protest at Columbia University, the Rhode Island School of Design held talks with protesters occupying a building, and MIT dealt with a new encampment on a site that was cleared but immediately retaken by demonstrators.
The confrontations come as campuses try a range of strategies, from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action, to resolve the protests against the Israel-Hamas war and clear the way for commencements.
At the University of Chicago, hundreds of protesters had gathered in an area known as the Quad for at least eight days. Campus administrators warned them Friday to leave the area or face removal.
Police in riot gear blocked access to the Quad early Tuesday as law enforcement dismantled the encampment. Officers later picked up a barricade erected to keep protesters out of the Quad and moved it toward the demonstrators, some of whom chanted, “Up, up with liberation. Down, down with occupation!” Police and protesters pushed back and forth along the barricade as the officers moved to reestablish control.
“The protesters were given an opportunity to disassemble their structures and depart the encampment, and there have been no arrests,” school President Paul Alivisatos said in a message to the university community. “Where appropriate, disciplinary action will proceed.”
By 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, the number of protesters had doubled to more than 200. About 30 minutes later, campus police removed a barricade and stepped aside to allow protesters back into the Quad where they gathered in front of Levi Hall, the campus administration building.
At MIT, protesters were given a Monday afternoon deadline to voluntarily leave or face suspension. Many left, according to an MIT spokesperson, who said protesters breached fencing after the arrival of demonstrators from outside the university. On Monday night, dozens of protesters remained at the encampment in a calmer atmosphere, listening to speakers and chanting before taking a pizza break.
Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group has been at the encampment for two weeks and is calling for an end to the killing in Gaza.
“Specifically, our encampment is protesting MIT’s direct research ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” he said.
No arrests had been made as of Monday night, according to the MIT spokesperson.
At the Rhode Island School of Design, where students started occupying a building Monday, a spokesperson said the school affirms students’ rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly and it supports all members of its community. The RISD president and provost were meeting with the demonstrators, the spokesperson said.
The student protests have spread to Europe, where they are gaining momentum. Police arrested about 125 activists Tuesday as they broke up a camp at the University of Amsterdam, and German police dismantled an occupation at Berlin’s Free University. Students also have held protests or set up encampments in Finland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, France and Britain.
Many protesters want their schools to divest from companies that do business with Israel or otherwise contribute to the war effort. Others simply want to call attention to the deaths in Gaza and for the war to end.
Demonstrations at New York City’s Columbia University, where the protest movement began about three weeks ago, have roiled its campus. Officials on Monday canceled its large main ceremony but said students will be able to celebrate at a series of smaller, school-based ceremonies this week and next.
Columbia had already canceled in-person classes. More than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia’s green or occupied an academic building were arrested in recent weeks.
Similar encampments sprouted up elsewhere, leading universities to struggle with where to draw the line between allowing free expression while maintaining safe and inclusive campuses.
READ MORE: Nearly 2,200 arrested in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses as police clear NYU encampment
The University of Southern California earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony. Students abandoned their camp at USC on Sunday after being surrounded by police and threatened with arrest. Other universities have held graduation ceremonies with beefed-up security. The University of Michigan’s ceremony was interrupted by chanting a few times Saturday.
A group of faculty and staff members at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill asked the administration for amnesty for student protesters who were recently arrested and suspended.
Harvard University’s interim president, Alan Garber, warned students that those in an encampment in Harvard Yard could face “involuntary leave,” meaning they would not be allowed on campus, could lose their student housing and might not be able to take exams.
At the University of California, San Diego, police cleared an encampment and arrested more than 64 people, including 40 students. The University of California, Los Angeles, moved classes online for the week because of disruptions after the dismantling of an encampment last week that resulted in 44 reported arrests.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its inhabitants.
LeBlanc reported from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Associated Press journalists around the U.S. and world contributed to this report, including Jeff Amy, Christopher Weber, Mike Corder, Barbara Surk, Rick Callahan and Pietro de Cristofaro.
By —Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated Press
By —Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press
May 7, 2024
CHICAGO (AP) — Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago on Tuesday as tension ratcheted up in standoffs with demonstrators at other college campuses across the U.S. — and increasingly, in Europe.
READ MORE: Roiled by protests, Columbia University nixes major commencement ceremony
Nearly three weeks into a movement launched by a protest at Columbia University, the Rhode Island School of Design held talks with protesters occupying a building, and MIT dealt with a new encampment on a site that was cleared but immediately retaken by demonstrators.
The confrontations come as campuses try a range of strategies, from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action, to resolve the protests against the Israel-Hamas war and clear the way for commencements.
At the University of Chicago, hundreds of protesters had gathered in an area known as the Quad for at least eight days. Campus administrators warned them Friday to leave the area or face removal.
Police in riot gear blocked access to the Quad early Tuesday as law enforcement dismantled the encampment. Officers later picked up a barricade erected to keep protesters out of the Quad and moved it toward the demonstrators, some of whom chanted, “Up, up with liberation. Down, down with occupation!” Police and protesters pushed back and forth along the barricade as the officers moved to reestablish control.
“The protesters were given an opportunity to disassemble their structures and depart the encampment, and there have been no arrests,” school President Paul Alivisatos said in a message to the university community. “Where appropriate, disciplinary action will proceed.”
By 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, the number of protesters had doubled to more than 200. About 30 minutes later, campus police removed a barricade and stepped aside to allow protesters back into the Quad where they gathered in front of Levi Hall, the campus administration building.
At MIT, protesters were given a Monday afternoon deadline to voluntarily leave or face suspension. Many left, according to an MIT spokesperson, who said protesters breached fencing after the arrival of demonstrators from outside the university. On Monday night, dozens of protesters remained at the encampment in a calmer atmosphere, listening to speakers and chanting before taking a pizza break.
Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group has been at the encampment for two weeks and is calling for an end to the killing in Gaza.
“Specifically, our encampment is protesting MIT’s direct research ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” he said.
No arrests had been made as of Monday night, according to the MIT spokesperson.
At the Rhode Island School of Design, where students started occupying a building Monday, a spokesperson said the school affirms students’ rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly and it supports all members of its community. The RISD president and provost were meeting with the demonstrators, the spokesperson said.
The student protests have spread to Europe, where they are gaining momentum. Police arrested about 125 activists Tuesday as they broke up a camp at the University of Amsterdam, and German police dismantled an occupation at Berlin’s Free University. Students also have held protests or set up encampments in Finland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, France and Britain.
Many protesters want their schools to divest from companies that do business with Israel or otherwise contribute to the war effort. Others simply want to call attention to the deaths in Gaza and for the war to end.
Demonstrations at New York City’s Columbia University, where the protest movement began about three weeks ago, have roiled its campus. Officials on Monday canceled its large main ceremony but said students will be able to celebrate at a series of smaller, school-based ceremonies this week and next.
Columbia had already canceled in-person classes. More than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia’s green or occupied an academic building were arrested in recent weeks.
Similar encampments sprouted up elsewhere, leading universities to struggle with where to draw the line between allowing free expression while maintaining safe and inclusive campuses.
READ MORE: Nearly 2,200 arrested in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses as police clear NYU encampment
The University of Southern California earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony. Students abandoned their camp at USC on Sunday after being surrounded by police and threatened with arrest. Other universities have held graduation ceremonies with beefed-up security. The University of Michigan’s ceremony was interrupted by chanting a few times Saturday.
A group of faculty and staff members at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill asked the administration for amnesty for student protesters who were recently arrested and suspended.
Harvard University’s interim president, Alan Garber, warned students that those in an encampment in Harvard Yard could face “involuntary leave,” meaning they would not be allowed on campus, could lose their student housing and might not be able to take exams.
At the University of California, San Diego, police cleared an encampment and arrested more than 64 people, including 40 students. The University of California, Los Angeles, moved classes online for the week because of disruptions after the dismantling of an encampment last week that resulted in 44 reported arrests.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its inhabitants.
LeBlanc reported from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Associated Press journalists around the U.S. and world contributed to this report, including Jeff Amy, Christopher Weber, Mike Corder, Barbara Surk, Rick Callahan and Pietro de Cristofaro.
No comments:
Post a Comment