Over the past several months, 2,600 students have been arrested at protests across the country as encampments crop up on quads and in squares. The main call for these protests have been to end US involvement in the war, bringing it to their school administrators demanding divestment from Israel-supporting companies.

For context, on October 7, 2023, Hamas, a Palestinian militant force who has had control over the Palestinian population for the past 18 years, launched an attack into southern Israel, resulting in the death of 1,400 Israelis and the capture of about 250 people, including women and children. 

Israel responded in devastating force, dropping nearly 6,000 bombs in the first six days of conflict. That figure is more than the United States used on Afghanistan in the entire year following the 9/11 attacks. And according to NBC News, as of May 6 (day 213 of the war) OCHA reported that at least 14,500 children had been killed in Gaza. Half the Palestinian population is under 18. 

Negotiations reached a temporary cease-fire in early December while hostages were exchanged from both sides. However, fighting ramped right back up following the pause in conflict. 

The death of so many Palestinian civilians, most notably the innocent women and children, has caused a wave of outcry across the globe, and has centralized in the student population. 

Universities have responded in force, calling on city officers and state troopers to come in and physically and violently dismantle the encampments. Chemical irritants have been used by both civilians and cops against the protestors, resulting in images that parallel past humanitarian protests. 

The first signs of the nationwide movement began on April 17 as students set up at Columbia University. President Minouche Shafik was called before congress this day. Republicans questioned her about the inaction against the alleged antisemitism on campus. Police were called to disperse the encampment, arresting over 100 students. 

On April 18, Shafik wrote to the New York police department saying “the continued encampment raises safety concerns for the individuals involved and the entire community.” Although the encampment remained largely peaceful, the students participated in chants to disrupt and spread their message.

Videos of the initial arrests went viral to other universities, with encampments sparking up all over the nation – University of Michigan, MIT, UNiversity of North Carolina, University of South Carolina, Tulane University, and NYU to name a few. 

In the Briefing Room in Triangle, Va., President Joe Biden commented on the campus protests, saying “I condemn the antisemitic protests.” He claimed to set up a program to deal with the issue. “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.” 

Many students across the country are well-informed and knowledgeable about the current humanitarian crisis happening in Gaza. Wizard_Bisan1 on TikTok is a female Palestinian in Gaza who documents the war happening around her, keeping others updated on her refugee status. 

A few days after the initial dismantlements across campuses, cops were called in to other universities: Officers arrested 30 protesters at the University of Texas in Austin; peaceful arrests take place at the University of South Carolina; and about 45 protestors were arrested and charged at Yale University for misdemeanor trespassing. 

As Columbia University remains the forefront protest to watch, the protests on campuses nationwide only grow. On April 30, a secondary group, independent of the original encampment, took over Hamilton Hall. The students barricaded the doors and windows, hanging Palestinian flags and a banner renaming the building Hind’s Hall, in honor of a Palestinian child killed in Gaza. 

The students maintained their occupation for only a few short hours as New York City police entered and cleared the building with riot gear, sweeping from the building to the encampment. Many more were arrested, with approximately 29% having no affiliation with the university. 

Over on the west coast, protestors at Portland State University entered Millar Library on April 30, and maintained an occupation for the following four days in which the campus remained closed, the building barricaded, and in the end a few dozen were arrested.

Cleanup from this occupation is still ongoing, as the protestors spray painted across walls and bookshelves, camped out in every nook and cranny, and set up food areas, medical corners, and activity rooms. 

By this point, campuses across approximately 15 states now have encampments on their lawns of students calling for divestments, action, and the end to pro-palestinian encampments. Many Jewish students are claiming to feel unsafe as talks against Israel often lead with antisemitism. Over 1,000 students have been arrested nationwide in the last week of classes. 

As the end of April approached, universities prepared for commencement and graduation ceremonies with many classes being either canceled or moved online. Students begin losing their graduation ceremonies while other universities move their ceremonies to smaller gatherings at each college. 

In an interesting outcry following the wave of graduation cancellations, as many of these students were in high school just four to six years ago – with their entire education being uprooted by the COVID pandemic, some responses to cancellations has been: “We didn’t have a high-school graduation anyway, so what’s with losing our college one?” 

Personal graduation ceremonies for these students have also moved to the back-burner, as the war on Gaza and the genocide taking place is a much more pressing global issue. Students are pushing aside their own wants to speak out for those persecuted in the Middle East. 

Campus protests are not a new strategy. Generations before have taken to universities, calling for divestments and financial transparency of the institution they put their money into. The 1980s saw a wave of protests against Apartheid South Africa, demanding their schools divest from companies doing business in the region. 

Weeks of sit ins took place, and eventually Columbia sold $39 million of stock in various companies. Although analyses show that divestments do not affect the action of the companies, the general populace felt the move a symbolic show of pulling support of humanitarian crises.

Other protests have taken place against the Vietnam War, the fossil fuel industries, and other causes. 

The University of Washington in Seattle has hosted an encampment since the morning of April 29. Students are calling for a “material divestment from Israel,” which would bring an end to student abroad programs in the area. 

Alli Roper, a world history teacher, put together a 3-part podcast laying a foundational knowledge as an introduction to the history of the small region. For any reader interested in easy familiarization.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine reaches back into the early Common Era times, with all three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) having a religious claim to the land. The area is covered in holy sites and temples of worship for all groups. 

For Muslims, Jerusalem is the home of the Al-Aqsa mosque, with the shrine, Dome of the Rock, right in the center. This is the place where the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. In the same spot, Judaism has their own holy site, The Temple Mount. This sight is said to be where ancient Jewish temples stood before being destroyed by Babylonians, Byzantium, or the Roman Empire depending on where in history one looks at. Christians believe Jesus Christ held rights in the area, establishing a Christian claim on the area.

As for Israelis and Palestinians, the conflict can be traced to more recent times following World War I, when the Ottoman Empire was broken up and the territories divided among global powers. As antisemitism grew, Zionism, the conceptual belief of a Jewish state in their ancestral home of Israel, became a very popular movement. 

Support for Zionism amped up after the horrors of the holocaust were revealed, and millions of Jews immigrated to the area, thus replacing the Palestinians who were already in the area. Conflicts and wars have broken out repeatedly over who belongs on the land, and requires novels to really explain all the different angles. 

It is the current Israeli-Palestine conflict that is driving the global outcry for a ceasefire. Despite what has happened with past generations, many people are simply wanting the weapons to be put down so peace talks can take place.

Protestors largely call for more bodies in support of solidarity. Many have set up supply zones, with food, water, hygiene products, and masks. ‘Freedom Library’ tents are set up filled with banned or contested titles, novels by Palestinian authors, and textbooks for people. The zones work as a community, holding meetings to keep in touch, stay updated, and strategize in the event of counter-protestors. 

Universities across the nation are mainly calling for a voluntary disbursement of encampments, with suspensions and arrests as consequences. Protestors are refusing, upholding their right to free speech and assembly. 

The current generation of college student protesters are in solidarity with Palestine and Gazans who are being rained down upon with arms provided to Israel by, mainly, the United States. The societal call to pull our hands out of the fight rings across the globe, with protests cropping up at universities in the UK and France. 

The conflict has reached global magnitudes, and no right situation has been configured. But the power of symbolism – the cutting of ties and divestments from Israeli-profiting companies – is what protests are asking for.