The student protest movement that broke out against Gaza war in mid-April at Columbia University in New York quickly spread to more than 70 universities and colleges across America. They are demanding that American universities divest from both Israel and companies that are presently profiting from the war in Gaza. They are demanding to end the arms supply and financial assistance to Israel for the Gaza war. They are demanding to end to the Gaza war.
The catalyst for this movement was an incident at Columbia University in New York City on April 17th, where students and faculty initiated a campus encampment in solidarity with Palestinians. Columbia University has a history of protest, most notably in 1968, when hundreds of students angry about racism and the Vietnam War occupied five campus buildings.
The rightwing university administration called the police to disband the Palestine solidarity camp. The police used force against the peaceful protestors. More than 108 students were arrested by the police to end the encampment. The police action proved counter-productive as the movement spread to other campuses. The arrests inspired the other students to join the movement.
More than 2700 students have been arrested across the country including faculty members. Many students were suspended or even expelled. The police used brutal force to tame the movement. But highhanded tactics failed to suppress the protest movement. The intensified police repression is radicalizing students on a widespread scale. As peaceful protests are met with violence, young people are quickly learning about the realities of power dynamics.
This escalation of police repression is having a profound and widespread radicalizing effect on students. The use of force, including batons, tear gas, and mounted officers, against peaceful protesters exercising their democratic rights has accelerated the learning process for young people.
The US officials give lectures to the rest of the world on democracy, right of protest and freedom of expression but in their own country they are treating the pro-Palestine student protestors as terrorists. Even the professors have been violently arrested. This movement has once again exposed the real face of American capitalism.
The university administrations, government officials, media and Republican Party leaders have unleashed vicious propaganda campaign against those who are supporting the rights of Palestinian people and opposing the Israeli aggression. There has been a wave of propaganda labeling supporters of Palestinian rights as antisemitic. However, many Jewish students actively participate in the Palestine solidarity movement, rejecting the notion that opposing the Israeli government’s actions equates to antisemitism.
A new layer of radical student activists has entered into the arena of struggle. This movement is leading to increased political awareness among a generation, prompting reflections on imperialism, the role of the state and police, and the necessity of collective action.
The student protests at universities and colleges in USA are not a new phenomenon. Student movement in America has a rich history of struggle and solidarity against wars, injustice and racism. The student protests in America against Vietnam War developed into a mass movement in the late 1960s that forced the American government to end the war. The student protests also played important role in the civil rights movement in the 1968.
The student movement once again erupted on the issue of Gaza War. The students in different universities and colleges are protesting against the Israeli atrocities in Gaza and American policy towards Israel. The people around the world have seen the horrors of war in Gaza. Millions of people around the world took to the streets against Israeli aggression on Gaza. Now the students in America decided to take their protest movement to the next level to seek the attention of the world and to put pressure on the American government to stop supplying arms to Israel.
It is difficult to predict at this stage whether this protest movement will developed into a mass movement or gradually receded in the coming period. The different universities and colleges are striking deals of different kinds to end the encampments. The protest movement might recede during the summer break at the campuses. But it might resume after the summer vacations.
Some student groups are also coordinating with other groups to organise a massive demonstration during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August. Massive protests of students, youth, workers and political activists will put more pressure on the Biden administration to alter its Israel policy.
If the student movement succeeded to gain momentum in the autumn before the November presidential elections then it will create further problems for the president Biden and Democratic Party.
Young voters are a key for Democratic Party. The young people and women voters played important role in the victory of President Biden in 2020 presidential elections. But now overwhelming majority of progressive young activists is not happy with Biden. The sections of working class people are also angry with the economic policies of Biden administration.
The severity of the violence in Gaza, with thousands killed and wounded, has galvanized the conscience of US students. They reject the Biden Administration’s support for Netanyahu’s policies and have moved beyond traditional protests to seek concrete action to end the violence.
Despite facing severe repression and smear campaigns branding them as antisemitic, students have garnered global attention for their efforts to combat the genocidal war on Gaza and highlight the power of grassroots activism.
The students are rightly demanding to end the material support for Gaza War. The supplies of US arms and financial aid is crucial for Israel to continue aggression and war against Palestine. The US is the single biggest exporter of arms to Israel. It accounts for around 65 percent of Israel’s imports of conventional weapons. The next two major suppliers of arms to Israel are Germany (around 30 percent, and Italy at just under 5 percent).
The Biden administration is introducing some measures to pacify the protests. But these are not significant steps to put pressure on the Israeli government to stop war.
