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European Economy and Markets

Police dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, move to clear Philadelphia and Arizona protests [Video]

Police dismantled a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology early Friday and moved to clear protesters from University of Pennsylvanias campus in Philadelphia, hours after police tear-gassed protesters and took down an encampment at the University of Arizona.Video above: ‘We are not going to stop,’ student says after MIT encampment clearedIn Cambridge, Massachusetts, video showed police roaming through the MIT encampment and organizers said about 10 students had been detained. Police in riot gear arrived around 4 a.m., encircled the camp and gave protesters about 15 minutes to leave. A crowd outside the camp began gathering and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans but were dispersed by 6 a.m.At the University of Arizona in Tucson, campus police in riot gear fired tear gas late Thursday at protesters before tearing down an encampment that included wood and plastic barriers on campus. In statement, the University of Arizona said it made the decision because the encampment violated school policy.A structure made from wooden pallets and other debris was erected on campus property after 5 p.m. in violation of the policy, the school said in a statement. University officials issued warnings to remove the encampment and disperse. The warnings were ignored.The school also said that police vehicles were spiked, and rocks and water bottles thrown at officers and university staff.In Philadelphia early Friday, police detained people who were at an encampment that has been in place at the University of Pennsylvania for more than two weeks. Officers moved in after giving protesters a warning to leave campus or face possible arrest.Video below: MIT protesters, police clash; 9 arrestedTensions have ratcheted up in standoffs with protesters on campuses across the United States and in Europe. Some colleges cracked down immediately, while others have tolerated the demonstrations. Some have begun to lose patience and call in the police over concerns about disruptions to campus life and safety.The protest movement began nearly three weeks ago at Columbia University in New York City. It has since swept college campuses nationwide, with demonstrators generally seeking to draw attention to the deaths in the Israel-Hamas war or calling for their schools to stop doing business with Israel or divest from companies that support its war efforts. More than 2,500 people have been arrested.The move at MIT comes several days after police first attempted to clear the camp only to see protesters storm past barriers and restore the encampment, which includes about a dozen tents in the heart of the campus in Cambridge.Before removing the encampment, MIT earlier in the week had started suspending dozens of students involved in the encampment, meaning they wouldnt be able to take part in academic activities nor commencement.Protesters insisted the move would not stop them from demanding that MIT end all ties to the Israeli military. They encampment had been up for at least weeks and especially angered Jewish students, who have held counter protests near the camp.This is only going to make us stronger. They cant arrest the movement,” Quinn Perian, an undergraduate student at MIT and organizer for MIT Jews for Ceasefire, said. We are going to continue and wont back down until MIT agrees to cut ties with the Israeli military. MIT would rather arrest and suspend some students than they would end their complicity with the genocide going in Gaza.The encampment had been up for at least two weeks and especially angered Jewish students, who have held counterprotests nearby. They covered a lawn with small Israeli flags and put up posters of some of the people abducted by the militants in the attack that ignited the war in Gaza.MIT President Sally Kornbluth, working to strike a balance between recognize the suffering in Gaza but concerns about the “safety of our community warned Monday the encampment would have be removed.This prolonged use of MIT property as a venue for protest, without permission, especially on an issue with such sharp disagreement, is no longer safely sustainable, she wrote to the MIT community.

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Germany News

University of Chicago clears a pro-Palestinian demonstration as MIT confronts a new encampment [Video]

Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago on Tuesday as tension ratcheted up in standoffs with demonstrators at other college campuses around the U.S. and increasingly, in Europe.Nearly three weeks into a movement launched by a protest at Columbia University, the Rhode Island School of Design held talks with protesters occupying a building, and MIT dealt with a new encampment on a site that was cleared but immediately retaken by demonstrators.The confrontations come as campuses try a range of strategies, from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action, to resolve the protests against the Israel-Hamas war and clear the way for commencements.At the University of Chicago, protesters numbering in the several hundreds had gathered in an area known as the Quad for at least eight days. Campus administrators warned them Friday to leave the area or face removal. Police in riot gear blocked access to the Quad on Tuesday as law enforcement dismantled the encampment.At MIT, protesters were given a Monday afternoon deadline to voluntarily leave or face suspension. Many left, according to an MIT spokesperson, who said protesters breached fencing after the arrival of demonstrators from outside the university. On Monday night, dozens of protesters remained at the encampment in a calmer atmosphere, listening to speakers and chanting before taking a pizza break.Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said that the group has been at the encampment for two weeks and that they were calling for an end to the killing in Gaza.Specifically, our encampment is protesting MITs direct research ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, he said.Video below: Aerial footage of University of Chicago protestsNo arrests had been made as of Monday night, according to the MIT spokesperson.At the Rhode Island School of Design, where students started occupying a building Monday, a spokesperson said that the school affirms students rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly and that it supports all members of its community. The RISD president and provost were on site meeting with the demonstrators, the spokesperson said.The student protests have spread to Europe, where they are gaining momentum. Police arrested about 125 activists early Tuesday as they broke up a pro-Palestinian camp at the University of Amsterdam. Students also have held protests or set up camps in Finland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Britain.Many protesters want their schools to divest from companies that do business with Israel or otherwise contribute to the war effort. Others simply want to call attention to the deaths in Gaza and for the war to end.Demonstrations at New York City’s Columbia University, where the protest movement began about three weeks ago, have roiled its campus. Officials on Monday canceled its large main ceremony but said students will be able to celebrate at a series of smaller, school-based ceremonies this week and next.Columbia had already canceled in-person classes. More than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbias green or occupied an academic building were arrested in recent weeks.Similar encampments sprouted up elsewhere, leading universities to struggle with where to draw the line between allowing free expression while maintaining safe and inclusive campuses.The University of Southern California earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony. Students abandoned their camp at USC on Sunday after being surrounded by police and threatened with arrest. Other universities have held graduation ceremonies with beefed-up security. The University of Michigan’s ceremony was interrupted by chanting a few times Saturday.A group of faculty and staff members at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill asked the administration for amnesty for student protesters who were recently arrested and suspended.Harvard Universitys interim president, Alan Garber, warned students that those in an encampment in Harvard Yard could face involuntary leave,” meaning they would not be allowed on campus, could lose their student housing and might not be able to take exams.At the University of California, San Diego, police cleared an encampment and arrested more than 64 people, including 40 students. The University of California, Los Angeles, moved classes online for the week due to disruptions following the dismantling of an encampment last week that resulted in 44 reported arrests.Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its inhabitants.Hamas on Monday announced its acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel said the deal did not meet its core demands and that it was pushing ahead with an assault on the southern Gaza town of Rafah.Cease-fires are temporary, said Selina Al-Shihabi, a Georgetown University sophomore who was taking part in a protest at George Washington. There can be a cease-fire, but the U.S. government will continue to arm the Israeli military. We plan to be here until the university divests or until they drag us out of here.

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France News

Gaza protests: French students demand an end to ties with Israeli universities • FRANCE 24 English [Video]

Student protests against Israel have entered their second week in France. A town hall event Thursday at the prestigious Sciences Po university in Paris ended with the administration refusing to create a working group to investigate ties with Israeli universities, which students across France want to see cut over the war in Gaza. It is just one demand of many that are motivating students across France and beyond to keep protesting.Read more about this story in our article: https://f24.my/AIq2.y🔔 Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YTen🔴 LIVE – Watch FRANCE 24 English 24/7 here: https://f24.my/YTliveEN🌍 Read the latest International News and Top Stories: https://www.france24.com/en/Like us on Facebook: https://f24.my/FBenFollow us on X (Twitter): https://f24.my/XenBrowse the news in pictures on Instagram: https://f24.my/IGenDiscover our TikTok videos: https://f24.my/TKenGet the latest top stories on Telegram: https://f24.my/TGen

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France News

On the ground: ‘No police presence’ at calm George Washington University Gaza protest • FRANCE 24 [Video]

Student protests over the Israel-Hamas war have popped up at many college campuses after being inspired by demonstrators at Columbia University. The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from companies advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza and in some cases from Israel itself. Police have arrested hundreds nationwide since detainments at Columbia on April 18. FRANCE 24’s Fraser Jackson reports from George Washington University.#OnTheGround #Gaza #US🔔 Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YTen🔴 LIVE – Watch FRANCE 24 English 24/7 here: https://f24.my/YTliveEN🌍 Read the latest International News and Top Stories: https://www.france24.com/en/Like us on Facebook: https://f24.my/FBenFollow us on X (Twitter): https://f24.my/XenBrowse the news in pictures on Instagram: https://f24.my/IGenDiscover our TikTok videos: https://f24.my/TKenGet the latest top stories on Telegram: https://f24.my/TGen