Mideast War blowback

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Tensions are rising between the French state and students at top universities who are staging pro-Palestine protests amid Israel’s war on Gaza, inspired by their American counterparts.

Students of the Sciences Po university in Paris occupied parts of the institution and blocked entry to a building last week before riot police descended on campus.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who like President Emmanuel Macron is among the university’s notable alumni, said his government “would not tolerate the actions of a dangerously acting minority trying to impose its rules and an ideology coming from North America”, following the three-day blockade at the prestigious school.

On Monday, undeterred by the threat of police action, antiwar protesters at the renowned Sorbonne University demonstrated on campus, setting up tents, chanting and waving the Palestinian flag.

Valerie Pecresse, president of the Ile-de-France region in which Paris is situated, has announced that the region’s funding for Sciences Po Paris will be cut until “serenity and security are restored in the school”.

The Sciences Po protesters occupied part of the campus first on Wednesday after 100 students voted to pitch tents on the university compound.

As well as an end to Israel’s war, they called on their university to cut ties with Israeli institutions and other businesses they see as complicit in the war in Gaza that has to date killed about 34,500 Palestinians, mostly children and women.

Hours after the demonstration began, the interim president of the school, Jean Basseres, summoned riot police officers, a move that carried significance in France as police rarely set foot in universities.

Despite no arrests being made, the president’s decision crossed a red line, according to some students and faculty. The protest continued on Thursday with some camping overnight.

“[University officials] told us that we could get expelled, that the director would call the riot police officers inside again, that we wouldn’t get our diploma,” said Ismail, a master’s student at Sciences Po who joined the sit-ins, as he decried “intimidation tactics”.

“Personally, I am not scared. Potentially, I will have to face disciplinary sanctions from a university that is complicit in genocide. If that’s something that I have to put on the line, I will do so,” he told Al Jazeera.

Sciences Po has partnerships with several Middle Eastern universities, including Tel Aviv University in Israel, while some under and postgraduates study in exchange programmes in Israel.

‘France doesn’t want a Columbia encampment here’
Eliana*, a French American student who requested anonymity for security reasons, believes the French government pressured university officials to let security forces in.

“In my first meeting with the [university] administration during the occupation on Wednesday, a member of the administration received a phone call and was told to do everything to get us out of the university, as the government was putting pressure”, she recalled.

“My analysis is that the government didn’t want a Columbia [University-style] encampment here in France, they didn’t want to be faced with that image”, she told Al Jazeera, referring to the protests at the US university that have made global headlines.

That Sciences Po Paris was the first university in France to hold a days-long protest for Palestine on campus is “highly symbolic”, according to Ziad Majed, a professor at the American University of Paris and a specialist in Middle East politics.

“Sciences Po is considered by the French government as a sacred place, whose role is to produce the elites of the country. A counter-model has emerged inside this elite institution, which is very worrying in the eyes of the establishment,” he told Al Jazeera.

He said the decision to call in riot police is unsurprising given France’s position on Israel-Palestine since October 7, when the historic conflict sharply escalated.

“At the beginning, France’s position had been one of unconditional support to Israel, while President Macron was claiming that he wanted to avoid an ‘importation of the conflict’ in France,” said Majed.

“The government is very scared that these students’ protests could spread to other French universities and is thus trying everything in its power to avoid that.”

The drama at French universities coincided with other societal frictions related to the Middle East war.

Last week, police summoned several public figures accused of inciting “terrorism”, including Mathilde Panot, president of the left-wing party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), and journalist Sihame Assbague, over their statements made after the Hamas attacks.

The drama at French universities coincided with other societal frictions related to the Middle East war.

Last week, police summoned several public figures accused of inciting “terrorism”, including Mathilde Panot, president of the left-wing party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), and journalist Sihame Assbague, over their statements made after the Hamas attacks.

While France has previously banned pro-Palestine rallies, Macron has more recently called on Israel to stop killing civilians in Gaza.

Donald Trump thinks that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been “rightfully” criticized for failing to stop Hamas’s murder of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 and says there are “some very good people” who could take Netanyahu’s job.

In a wide-ranging interview with TIME, Trump was sharply critical of Netanyahu, a close ally during the former President's term. The Israeli prime minister’s support inside Israel has sagged in recent months, as Israeli voters demand answers for how Israeli intelligence and military forces missed Hamas’ preparations for a brazen attack that killed nearly 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages back into Gaza.

“Bibi Netanyahu rightfully has been criticized for what took place on Oct. 7,” Trump says, speaking to TIME on April 12 at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla.

“Oct. 7 should have never happened,” Trump said. “Everything was there to stop that. And a lot of people knew about it, you know, thousands and thousands of people knew about it, but Israel didn’t know about it, and I think he’s being blamed for that very strongly.”

Trump once touted his close relationship with Netanyahu, who is Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister. When Trump was president, he followed through on many of Netanyahu’s priorities. Trump took the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel, and moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

But the relationship soured when Netanyahu congratulated Biden on winning the 2020 election and put out a video address marking Biden’s inauguration. Trump, who continues to falsely deny that Biden was the legitimate victor, was reportedly frustrated that Netanyahu didn’t show him more loyalty.

In the interview at Mar-a-Lago, Trump complained about Israel dropping out of the U.S.-led 2020 strike in Iraq that killed the top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. “I had a bad experience with Bibi,” Trump tells TIME. “And I was not happy about that. That was something I never forgot. And it showed me something.”

Asked if he thought it was time for Netanyahu to leave power and whether he could work better with Gantz, Trump demurs. “I think Benny Gantz is good, but I’m not prepared to say that," Trump said. "I haven’t spoken to him about it. But you have some very good people that I've gotten to know in Israel that could do a good job.”

In a statement Tuesday, Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang said, “Students occupying the building face expulsion.” Chang said the university had given protesters a chance to leave peacefully and finish the semester, but that those who didn’t agree to the terms from Monday were being suspended — restricted from all academic and recreational spaces, allowed only to enter their residences, and, for seniors, ineligible to graduate.

“Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation — vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances — and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday,” he said.

The public safety department said in a statement that access to the campus was limited to students living in the residential buildings and essential employees. There was just one access point into and out of campus.

New York Police Department Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said Tuesday that officers won’t enter Columbia’s campus without a request from college administration or an imminent emergency.

Protesters have insisted they will remain at the hall until the university agrees to three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty.

At many campuses, including Columbia, the conflict over protests appeared to be coming to a head.

The standoffs have drawn concern from the White House. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden believes students occupying an academic building is “absolutely the wrong approach,” and “not an example of peaceful protest.”

At California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, where protesters occupied two buildings, dozens of police officers in helmets and carrying batons marched onto campus and cleared both halls overnight. The university said 25 were arrested and there were no injuries. The sweep was broadcast on the Facebook page of KAEF-TV, a satellite of KRCR-TV, until police detained the reporter.

Video posted by the campus newspaper showed students sitting in the campus quad as officers started detaining protesters. One yelled: “You don’t need to do this!”

The campus remains closed to anyone without authorization.

President Tom Jackson Jr. lamented the situation, saying “nobody wanted to see things come to this.”

Unfortunately, serious criminal activity that crossed the line well beyond the level of a protest had put the campus at ongoing risk,” Jackson said in a statement.

Yale authorities on Tuesday morning cleared an encampment after protesters heeded final warnings to leave, university officials said. No arrests were reported. Demonstrators said on social media that they were moving their gathering to a sidewalk area. The encampment was set up Sunday, six days after police arrested nearly 50 people, including 44 students, and took down dozens of tents.

Dozens of people were arrested Monday during protests at universities in Texas, Utah, Virginia and New Jersey, while Columbia said hours before the takeover of Hamilton Hall that it had started suspending students. At the University of Texas at Austin, 79 people involved in the Monday protest were jailed, according to the Travis County sheriff’s department, most charged with criminal trespass.

A small group of students at Portland State University in Oregon broke into the university’s library late Monday, drawing a sharp rebuke from city officials and the district attorney. The downtown campus, where protesters had been demonstrating mostly peacefully, was closed Tuesday.

Also Tuesday, police cleared an encampment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and detained about 30 people. At the University of Connecticut, police made arrests after protesters refused to remove tents.

Mayor Eric Adams issued a stern warning to Columbia University protesters Tuesday after demonstrators occupied a building overnight, prompting the school to threaten them with expulsion.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said "external actors" are "attempting to hijack this process," and called on the protesters who are still involved to "walk away from this situation now, and continue your advocacy through other means."

"They are actively creating serious public safety issues at these protests," Adams said. "We can not and will not allow what should be a peaceful gathering to turn into a violent spectacle that serves no purpose. We can not wait until this situation becomes even more serious. This must end now."

Tensions have escalated on campus as students have barricaded themselves inside Hamilton Hall, which sits on Amsterdam Avenue and is across from the main lawn, where a tent encampment is set up.

Furniture could be seen boarded against doors, and supplies were being lifted up to people inside the building via a rope and pulley.

Faculty responded by locking the campus gates down, only allowing essential workers and students access to the school.

In a statement Tuesday, the school said this is no longer a debate about the students' reasons or cause, but rather their actions.

Mayor Adams: Outside agitators have coopted the protest
"I have been saying for days, if not weeks now, that what should have been a peaceful protest, it has basically been coopted by professional, outside agitators," Adams said Tuesday. "We were well aware based on a series of observations that what should've been a peaceful protest that's part of a constitutional rights of Americans has clearly been coopted. A right that this administration supports and defends to support your concern."

Adams urged everyone violating Columbia's policies to "leave the area, and leave the area now. And if you're a parent of a student, please call your child and urge them to leave the area before the situation escalates in any way. This is for their own safety, and the safety of others."

"We are seeing professional, external actors getting involved in these protests, including in the occupation of a university building," Police Commissioner Edward Caban said. "These people are not Columbia students. They are not affiliated with the university and they are working to escalate the situation. We are seeing their tactics changing in a way that's endangering public safety. These once peaceful protests are being exploited by professional outside agitators and the safety of all students, faculty and staff are now a concern."

Police officials pointed to escalating tactics of the protests, to include the takeover of the building, damaging cameras, reports of physical altercations, and signs being "fortified into shields."

To support their claims, the NYPD showed videos they said showed students trying to prevent the break-in "being intimidated," barricades being dragged into Hamilton Hall, "some training sessions that are occurring within the encampment itself."

People occupying Hamilton Hall could face burglary, criminal mischief and trespassing. For people in the encampments outside, they could face trespassing and disorderly conduct charges.

Cellphone video obtained by CBS New York shows demonstrators using hammers to smash windows just after midnight before locking themselves inside Hamilton Hall, the university's main administrative building. At one point, they blocked the entrance.

Protesters unfurled several banners, including one that renamed the building "Hind's Hall," after Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza three months ago. They said they intend to stay inside until Columbia concedes to three demands: Divestment, financial transparency and amnesty.

Students describe the scene
Two students who witnessed the protest said it was hostile and aggressive.

"They barricaded themselves in, they brought chairs out, blocked the doors, and they moved outdoor, heavy metal tables, blockaded the doors... formed human chains and started protesting, and claiming that they had liberated the space, essentially," student Jonas Du told CBS New York. "Just a complete lack of administration, complete lack of public safety and NYPD."

"They've just been targeting students, whomever they can find, calling them Zionists," junior Jessica Schwalb said. "If you hear them, they chant, 'We don't want no Zionists here.'"

Video shows some of the demonstrators chanting "Intifada! Intifada!"

"They're willing to sacrifice any threats or risk their academic career on behalf of the people of Palestine, on behalf of the children in Rafah," one student with the pro-Palestinian movement said.

"When they say 'Globalize the intifada,' and when they say 'Glory to our martyrs,' ... what they mean is that they support terror attacks on whoever, and I'm saying 'whoever,' because it's not only against Israel," student Omer Granot-Lubaton said.

"It was pretty horrific to witness. The building I live in is adjacent to Hamilton Hall. I could hear the screaming," student David Pomerantz said. "I got about five calls from my parents this morning asking for me to come home. I think it's hard for anyone to feel safe. I think it's hard for anybody to function normally as a college student and participate in exams and get their papers done."

"I was intimidated. This is an unsafe place to be on campus. I think police should step in, and make sure that everybody feels safe on campus," one student said.

"Our demands are divestment, disclosure and amnesty. The university has not been adequately addressing those demands, instead proposing further discipline," student negotiator Sueda Polat said.

Some student negotiators held a news conference Tuesday afternoon, saying they will remain on campus until all their demands are met, and say that is why they have jeopardized their education and careers.

"We don't have to agree with them. That's not always how it is. But when actions cross over into vandalism, harassment, destruction of property or even violence, then the line has been crossed," Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

Adams condemned the actions of the student activists, and said the NYPD is standing by.

"You cannot call for peace by using violence. That's not acceptable," Adams said.

Some 21 members of Congress wrote a letter Tuesday to Columbia's Board of Trustees to "express our disappointment that, despite promises to do so, Columbia University has not yet disbanded the unauthorized and impermissible encampment of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish activists on campus."

"We appreciate the Columbia administration's efforts this week to negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement that allows those in the encampment to voluntarily disburse without police intervention. But, after nearly a week of negotiations, it is now abundantly clear that the students and activists entrenched on campus are unwilling to enter into a reasonable agreement to disband, which is necessary to bring the University into compliance with Title VI," they wrote. "Those who violate the law cannot dictate the terms of the University's ability to comply with that law. It is past time for the University to act decisively, disband the encampment, and ensure the safety and security of all of its students."

Will the NYPD be called to Columbia?
The NYPD has officers stationed outside the school's entrances where protests have popped up over the past few days, but police remain off campus. Officials have said the university is private property, so officers cannot respond unless requested or if there is a threat to public safety.

Maddrey said the department has been speaking with the administration daily. Campus security has not provided an update on how they are responding but said in a statement a safety escort can be requested.

"It's the end of the school year, young people are graduating, and you know it's something the NYPD is going to have to stand on the sidelines and be prepared to deal with alright," he said.

Hochul said last week she would not send the National Guard to campus, and Adams has said the NYPD is ready to respond but it's ultimately the school's call.

"The police and the media are the tools that demonstrators can use to amplify whatever the small group that's taken over the building are doing. So police are going to be very careful with how they handle any protest, including one that's off the campus and onto city property," CBS News Law Enforcement Contributor and former NYPD Deputy Commissioner Richard Esposito explained.

Classes ended Monday. School buildings are needed for final exams in a few days, and the campus lawn is needed for commencement. The university said it will not cancel the graduation ceremony on May 15.

Tuesday on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill, demonstrators broke through police barricades to lower the American flag in the main quad and raise a mock Palestinian flag instead. In video posted to X by student media organization The Daily Tar Heel, Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts is shown walking to the quad, surrounded by law enforcement officers, to put the American flag back up. Counter-protesters surrounded the flagpole and chanted “USA,” thanking Roberts for his intervention.

“That flag will stay there as long as I am chancellor,” he told WRAL news in live coverage of the protest. “Tell students that we will keep them safe from a small minority of students who want to disrupt their experience. This university is for everybody.”

In a campus safety alert, UNC posted a short time ago: “Alert Carolina! Adverse Conditions – Critical: UNC in Condition 2; 3-11:59 pm today. Classes canceled. Non-mandatory operations suspended.”

According to the student media outlet Carolina Review, the crowd of protesters set up an encampment Monday afternoon and stayed in the quad all night. They chanted “intifada,” “revolution,” and “from the river to the sea” during the demonstration.

Police used tear gas Tuesday afternoon to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters on the University of South Florida's Tampa campus.

An estimated 100 protesters had gathered at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza to demand USF cut ties with and divest from companies supporting Israel. They stood in a circle interlocking arms and chanting slogans like “Free Palestine” and “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”

Some people on the outer edge of the circle held makeshift wooden shields and umbrellas.

Around 4:45 p.m., WUSF reporters Meghan Bowman and Ari Herrera said law enforcement outnumbering the protesters lined up on both sides of the protestors in the plaza. For several hours before then, small clusters of officers had been standing across the plaza from the protest.

Police used tear gas Tuesday afternoon to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters on the University of South Florida's Tampa campus.

An estimated 100 protesters had gathered at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza to demand USF cut ties with and divest from companies supporting Israel. They stood in a circle interlocking arms and chanting slogans like “Free Palestine” and “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”

Some people on the outer edge of the circle held makeshift wooden shields and umbrellas.

Around 4:45 p.m., WUSF reporters Meghan Bowman and Ari Herrera said law enforcement outnumbering the protesters lined up on both sides of the protestors in the plaza. For several hours before then, small clusters of officers had been standing across the plaza from the protest.

Nearly 100 people were arrested tonight at Columbia University as NYPD officers cleared Hamilton Hall, which had been taken over, and a tent encampment that students established to protest the war in Gaza.

NYPD officers descended on Columbia University just after 9 p.m. and declared the campus clear just before 11 p.m.
Special police units entered Hamilton Hall through a second-story window using a massive truck and a ramp. About 40 people were arrested in the building's first floor, NYPD said.

The university has asked the NYPD to maintain a presence on campus through at least May 17, two days after the scheduled graduation.

Columbia and Barnard students were urged by school officials to shelter in place.

As NYPD officers moved in and arrested demonstrators at Columbia University Thursday night, police also faced ongoing protests at City College.

Eyewitness News was live at the scene as college students and others protested the NYPD's closing of the Hamilton Heights campus. Police officers are currently making arrests at City College.

In the last couple of hours, protesters at one of the college's entrance gates have been igniting flares, bright red and smoky as the anger grows in response to the police clearing out an encampment that had been there for days and then closing the school's campus.

Authorities say people can leave but cannot go back on campus. Eyewitness News can see there are some students on campus but most are outside.

In an emergency message to the college community, City College President Vince Boudreau announced as of May 1, all campus operations would be online until further notice.

"Given the situation, we are moving all Wednesday classes and work to remote, remaining remote until conditions permit a return to normal business operations. We are also urging all members of our community to stay away from campus," Boudreau said.

Meanwhile, police used barricades to close not just campus entrances, but also the streets that lead to them.

Earlier Monday evening, video shared with Eyewitness News showed police putting up barricades to close the campus and arresting students who tried to push through the barriers.

The NYPD played recorded warnings that they would be arrested. This caused some very tense moments as protesters hurled anti-police chants mixed with pro-Palestinian chants.

Violent clashes erupted early on Wednesday morning on the campus of the University of California in Los Angeles between pro-Palestinian protesters and a group of counter-demonstrators supporting Israel.

Police were deployed to the campus after the Israel supporters tried to tear down a pro-Palestinian protest encampment, according to the UCLA student newspaper Daily Bruin.
Footage from broadcaster KABC, an ABC affiliate, showed people wielding sticks or poles to attack wooden boards being held up as a makeshift barricade to protect pro-Palestinian protesters, some of whom held placards or umbrellas.

The Los Angeles Police Department said on X it was responding to UCLA's request "due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus", to restore order and maintain public safety.

Broadcast footage showed a police cordon slowly clearing a central quad beside the encampment.
Los Angeles Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, whose district includes UCLA, posted on X: "Everyone has a right to free speech and protest, but the situation on UCLA’s campus is out of control and is no longer safe."

Fights, fireworks and high tension: How a night of violence unfolded at UCLA
The chaos and violence seen at UCLA was captured by photojournalists on the scene. One of them, Anthony Cabassa, saw tension between the pro-Palestinian encampment and pro-Israeli counterprotesters turn into outright conflict.

At 10:14 p.m. (1:14 a.m. ET), a small group of counterprotesters arrived and played music loudly at the barrier to the encampment, Cabassa's videos show Some 30 minutes later, more counterprotesters had arrived — with another loudspeaker.

But by 11:20 p.m. (2:20 a.m.), some barriers had been destroyed, fireworks were being set off and mace had been sprayed.

At 12:10 a.m. (3:10 a.m. ET), fights had broken out, with some outside the encampment wearing masks and carrying what appeared to be metal poles. Clouds of smoke filled the air and large projectiles were thrown into the tents.

At 12:42 p.m., while these skirmishes were happening, a group appearing to be private security staff stand and watch. They had Apex Security Group written on their jackets, the name of a company based in Northridge, California.

Moments later, rival protesters engaged in a fistfight, with one person struck with a metal pole. Subsequent videos show both sides trading songs and chants.

At 1:21, Cabassa filmed a man with a bloodied head walking way from the violence. The people around him said he had been struck "with a metal rod."

The arrival of police on the scene was met with chants of "USA! USA!" from the pro-Israel protesters.

And eventually, by 2 a.m. (5 a.m. ET), police had managed to separate both sides and the campus returned to relative calm. Police then asked protesters to leave, a request that has so far not been followed.

Jewish Federation says it’s 'appalled' at UCLA protest violence

Jewish Federation Los Angeles said today it was “appalled at the violence that took place on the campus of UCLA last night.”

“The abhorrent actions of a few counter protestors last night do not represent the Jewish community or our values,” the group said in a statement. “We believe in peaceful, civic discourse.”

It said the violence was a “result of the lack of leadership from the Chancellor and the UCLA administration.”

“The Chancellor has allowed for an environment to be created over many months that has made students feel unsafe, allowed for illegal encampments in violation of its own laws, refused to censure faculty and staff who flouted UCLA’s Code of Conduct, and has been systemically slow to respond when law enforcement is desperately needed,” the statement said.

The federation called on the chancellor and the UCLA administration to close the encampment and meet with leaders of the Jewish community.

Hamilton Hall occupants both students and outsiders, Columbia says
The pro-Palestinian protesters arrested last night inside Hamilton Hall were a combination of Columbia University students and outsiders, the school's president said.

The building's takeover was the the final straw, pushing university officials into calling for police to clear out Hamilton Hall and the protest encampment, university President Minouche Shafik said.

"They have many supporters in our community and have a right to express their views and engage in peaceful protest," Shafik said in a statement today. "But students and outside activists breaking Hamilton Hall doors, mistreating our Public Safety officers and maintenance staff, and damaging property are acts of destruction, not political speech."

CAIR-NY demands charges be dropped against student protesters arrested at Columbia and CCNY
The Council on American-Islamic Relations’ chapter of New York denounced the NYPD arrest of student protesters who "are on the right side of history" yesterday and called for the Manhattan district attorney to drop charges against them.

In total, 282 people were arrested on both campuses yesterday after students refused to end their demonstrations that demanded their institutions divest from Israel.

“It is sad but not surprising that Columbia University and CCNY officials would rather unleash the NYPD on their own students than simply meet their demand to divest from the Israeli government and its genocide in Gaza," CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher said in a statement today. “Instead of joining students calling for an end to war profiteering, our universities are profiting from ethnic-based massacres.”

Nasher said as students called for a cease-fire and peace in Israel and Gaza — these colleges were "inviting violence onto campuses with police arrests."

“It is not complicated: suspensions, expulsions, and even violent arrests will not end campus protests. Students have made it clear that they require a true commitment to ending complicity in genocide," Nasher said. "CAIR-NY commends their pursuit to do their part in ending American support of Israel’s continued genocide. We fully expect these same schools to one day celebrate these students the same way students who occupied Hamilton Hall decades ago are celebrated today."

Protesters clash with police at University of Wisconsin-Madison encampment
At least 12 people were arrested, including several who resisted arrest, as police dispersed an encampment of protesters after 7 a.m., the UW-Madison Police Department said Wednesday.

Four members of law enforcement were injured during clashes with protesters at the UW-Madison campus, police said in a statement. Three Dane County deputies were injured “all directly related to the physical resistance,” and one state trooper “sustained injuries when a protester struck their head with a skateboard,” the statement said.

“It is not yet clear how many are affiliated with UW–Madison,” police said.

Earlier Wednesday morning, protesters clashed with police at University of Wisconsin-Madison as police carried out arrests and cleared out an encampment by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on campus. Protesters at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and dozens more across the country, have been calling for their universities to divest funding supporting Israel.

Police can be seen pushing screaming protesters, some with signs and some wearing masks, back and tearing down tents. Some protesters confronted police, resulting in clashes.

Protesters form encampment at Fordham University at Lincoln Center
A group of protesters at Fordham University at Lincoln Center formed an encampment today in the Leon Lowenstein Center with demonstrators supporting “solidarity” with other campuses that have made encampments and had them torn down.

“ONE CAMP COMES DOWN, TWO MORE SPRING UP,” read a message on one of the tents. “SOLIDARITY WITH COLUMBIA AND CCNY.”

Other signs lining the windows of the building entrance read, “GAZA SOLIDARITY ENCAMPMENT,” “WE DEMAND DIVESTMENT,” and “STUDENTS 4 PALESTINE LIBERATION.”

The Fordham Coalition for Palestine said in a statement Wednesday that “in direct response to the attack on Rafah and the police repression at the Columbia University and City University of New York,” the coalition would establish the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian People."

As of early afternoon on Wednesday, there were about 100 people gathered outside the Lowenstein building. It was not immediately clear how many protesters were inside the building, but there were about 10 tents inside the building and video taken earlier showed at least a dozen protesters.

More than a dozen officers also flanked the building.

It sounds like the pro-genocide crowd feel entitled to attack people they disagree with with metal poles.

Time to start putting them on shirts. If they felt threatened before they need to be shown what being threatened actually is like.

Explain to this clueless boomer what “putting them on shirts” means.

Do you think Biden's inability to stand up to Bibi will cost him the election?

Whether or not it should, will it?