2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses

2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses
Part of the Israel–Hamas war protests
Clockwise from top: Columbia University Harvard University Monash University University of Amsterdam McGill University University of Sydney University of Oregon
Date	April 17, 2024 – July 2024 (3 months, 1 week and 5 days)
Location	Global; primarily in the United States List of countries[1] Argentina Austria[2] Australia Bangladesh[3] Belgium[4] Brazil[5] Canada Costa Rica[6] Cuba[7] Denmark Egypt Finland France Germany India Indonesia[8] Iraq[9] Ireland Italy Japan Kuwait Lebanon Mexico Netherlands[4] New Zealand[10] Portugal[11] Romania[12] South Africa[13] South Korea[14] Spain Sweden[15] Tunisia[16] United Kingdom United States Yemen
Caused by	Opposition to U.S. support for Israel Alleged genocide in Gaza Investments in Israel[17]
Goals	Universities divesting from Israel
Methods	Protests Civil disobedience Lawsuits Picketing Rolling strikes Occupation Civil disorder
Casualties
Injuries	15-25+ protesters hospitalized[18]
Arrested	3,100 protesters[19]

Pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses started in 2023 and escalated in April 2024, spreading in the United States and other countries, as part of wider Israel–Hamas war protests. The escalation began after mass arrests at the Columbia University campus occupation, led by anti-Zionist groups, in which protesters demanded the university's disinvestment from Israel over its alleged genocide of Palestinians.^[20] In the U.S. over 3,100 protesters have been arrested,^[19] including faculty members and professors,^[1][21] on over 60 campuses.^[22] On May 7, protests spread across Europe with mass arrests in the Netherlands.^[23][24] By May 12, twenty encampments had been established in the United Kingdom, and across universities in Australia and Canada.^[25][26] The protests largely ended as universities closed for the summer.^[27]

The different protests' varying demands include severing financial ties with Israel, transparency over financial ties, an end to partnerships with Israeli institutions,^[28] and amnesty for protesters.^[29] Universities have suspended and expelled student protesters, in some cases evicting them from campus housing.^[1][30][31] Some universities have relied on police to forcibly disband encampments and end occupations of buildings,^[32] others made agreements with protesters for encampments to be dismantled,^[33] and a number of universities have cut ties with Israeli institutions, or companies involved with Israel and its occupied territories.^[a] The occupations have also resulted in the closure of Columbia University,^[40] Cal Poly Humboldt,^[41] and the University of Amsterdam;^[42] rolling strikes by academic workers on campuses in California;^[43] and the cancellation of a few university graduation ceremonies in the U.S., with protests occurring at various ceremonies.^[44][45][46]

Over 200 groups have expressed support for the protests,^[47] as well as U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, various members of Congress, several labor unions,^[48][49][50] hundreds of university staff in the United Kingdom,^[51][52] and Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.^[53] The police response to the protests has been criticized by some Democrats^[54][55][56] and human rights organizations.^[57][58] An estimated 8% of college students have participated in protests,^[59] 97% of protests have remained nonviolent,^[60] and 28–40% of Americans support the protests with 42–47% opposed.^[61][62] The protests have been compared to the anti-Vietnam and 1968 protests.^[63][64]

Supporters of Israel and some Jewish students have raised concerns about antisemitic incidents at or around the protests,^[65] prompting condemnations of the protests from leaders including President Joe Biden,^[29] Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte,^[66] and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu;^[67] as well as concern from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese^[68] and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.^[69] Students and faculty members who have participated in the protests, many of whom are Jewish, have said the protests are not antisemitic.^{[70][71][72][73]}

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