Spread of campus ‘Gaza solidarity encampments’ fuels arrests, antisemitism concerns

Anti-Israel demonstrations and encampments grew Tuesday despite college administrators’ efforts to turn down the temperature, spurring more arrests as pressure mounted to restore order and protect Jewish students.

“Gaza solidarity encampments” have sprung up at about a dozen universities, including Columbia, Yale, Tufts and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, stoking security concerns on campuses already on high alert over antisemitism and harassment.

The center of the latest unrest is New York City. Police arrested 133 demonstrators late Monday at New York University after outsiders breached the barriers around a pro-Palestinian student encampment at Gould Plaza on the north side of the business school.

“We can’t have outside agitators come in and be destructive to our city,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said at a Tuesday press conference. “Someone wanted something to happen at that protest at NYU.”

Police said protesters threw bottles and wielded a chair at officers. Ten to 15 NYU faculty members sought to block police from reaching the encampment by forming a human chain, said Kaz Daughtry, NYPD deputy commissioner for operations.

“The faculty … were the most aggressive towards the police. They would not move, they would not let go, they were being very passive resistance, and also physical with our officers as well,” Mr. Daughtry said on Fox5 in New York City. “It took quite some time to get the faculty removed and placed into custody.”

Most of those arrested were charged with trespassing and released, although four faced criminal charges.

NYU spokesperson John Beckman said protesters were given an hour to disperse, but “many refused to leave.”

“We also learned that there were intimidating chants and several antisemitic incidents reported,” he said in a Tuesday statement. “Given the foregoing and the safety issues raised by the breach, we asked for assistance from the NYPD. The police urged those on the plaza to leave peacefully, but ultimately made a number of arrests.”

The university took action by erecting a plywood barrier around the plaza, but protesters gathered for an afternoon “strike and town hall” event organized by the NYU Palestinian Solidarity Committee.

Officials at Columbia and Yale also brought in police to remove protesters refusing to abide by campus rules. So far, the arrests, discussions and warnings have done little to stem the wave of anti-Israel activism.

At Columbia University, the pro-Palestinian encampment that police dismantled Thursday was back and bigger than ever. Tents, tables, food supplies and Palestinian flags carpeted the lawn in front of Butler Library.

Those behind the encampments include the National Students for Justice in Palestine, which has wielded the tent cities as a cudgel in its campaign to persuade universities to divest from Israel and companies doing business with Israel.

“By establishing spaces for popular education on campus, we will disrupt the university’s operations, usurp its existing structures, and undermine its elite reputation to force university administrators to either cut ties with the Zionist entity or allow their universities to shatter,” the organization said on Instagram.

Columbia sought to address safety concerns by announcing it would move to hybrid learning for the rest of the semester. A day earlier, it called for a one-day remote-learning “reset.” The response left critics on the right frustrated.

“Columbia University is going virtual for the rest of the year. How stupid,” Jim Pfaff, president of The Conservative Caucus, said on X. “Here’s an idea. Kick out the students who are supporting terrorists of Hamas and causing harm to Jewish students. Problem solved.”

Harvard suspended its Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and warned of permanent expulsion unless the students “cease all organizational activities for the remainder of the spring 2024 term,” The Harvard Crimson reported.

Such measures have done little to assuage higher education’s critics in Congress.

Sens. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, and Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, called for President Biden to bring in the National Guard to restore order. They compared the plight of Jewish students to that of Black students harassed during the desegregation era.

“I urge you to similarly mobilize the National Guard and other necessary authorities to protect Jewish American students on Columbia University’s campus and any other campus where Jewish students are at risk,” Mr. Hawley said in a Monday letter to Mr. Biden. “‘Never again’ means never again.”

“Joe Biden has an obligation to protect these Jewish students from what is a nascent pogrom on these campuses,” Mr. Cotton said on Fox News Channel. “These are scenes like you’ve seen out of the 1930s in Germany.”

Former President Donald Trump called the anti-Israel demonstrations roiling elite universities a “disgrace” and said Mr. Biden didn’t know how to deal with the crisis.

“What’s going on at the college level at the colleges, Columbia, NYU and others, is a disgrace, and it’s really on Biden,” Mr. Trump said in a video that the Trump War Room posted on X. “He has the wrong signal, he’s got the wrong tone, he’s got the wrong words, he doesn’t know who he’s backing, and it’s a mess.”

Mr. Biden addressed the issue briefly Monday. At an Earth Day event, he said, “I condemn the antisemitic protests. That’s why I have set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”

Mr. Trump said the president has “got no message, he’s got no compassion, he doesn’t know what he’s doing, he can’t put two sentences together, frankly.”

Universities reluctant to take further action may be under significant pressure from the left.

Pro-Palestinian students and faculty pilloried Columbia President Minouche Shafik for bringing in police Thursday to sweep the encampment. Among the 108 arrested was the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democrat, who was also suspended.

The Barnard and Columbia chapter of the American Association of University Professors said it plans to submit a censure resolution against Ms. Shafik and her administration for her “unprecedented assault on students’ rights,” the Columbia Spectator reported.

More than 50 members of the Columbia Law School faculty said in a letter to Ms. Shafik that they were “deeply troubled” by the disciplinary action against the student protesters.

For universities, the best news may be that the end is in sight, at least for the current academic year. Columbia and NYU are slated to hold commencement ceremonies on May 15.

• Tom Howell Jr. and Kerry Picket contributed to this report.