KATHMANDU: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators faced arrests on multiple US university campuses, with 23 protesters detained at Indiana University in Bloomington for refusing to remove tents they pitched on campus. These actions come amid a wave of protests across American colleges, sparked by the recent mass arrest of over 100 individuals at Columbia University. Alongside calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, protesters are demanding divestment from companies linked to Israel's military, an end to US military aid to Israel, and amnesty for students and faculty disciplined for their activism.
University authorities have responded by urging police to intervene and remove encampments, citing violations of campus policies against hate speech and unauthorized camping. In Boston, Massachusetts State Police assisted in clearing out a protest encampment at Northeastern University, leading to the arrest of 102 demonstrators charged with trespassing. Northeastern University attributed the need for police intervention to the presence of external organizers not affiliated with the institution.
Similarly, 69 protestors at Arizona State University were detained by campus police after they refused to disperse. The university clarified that the majority of those arrested were not ASU students, faculty, or staff but rather individuals who had established an encampment and demonstration on campus grounds. These incidents underscore the tension between the exercise of free speech rights and the enforcement of university policies regarding protests and unauthorized gatherings.