Hundreds of people have been arrested at college campuses across the US as protests over the war in Gaza ramp up – with some turning violent. One of the biggest incidents in the past 24 hours was at UCLA in California, where pro-Palestinian protesters were attacked by pro-Israeli supporters, with multiple injuries reported and 30 arrests made. Riot police were called in, but they’ve been criticised for their “unacceptable” delayed response – including by Californian Governor Gavin Newsom. Across the country, state troopers dispersed hundreds of protesters at the University of Dallas and at the University of Arizona, and protesters began reentering Columbia University in New York after being ousted by riot police earlier in the week…

What’s this all about?

To put these protests into context, reports say they’re part of the biggest wave of US student activism since the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. There’s a good explainer on them here, but the top line is that student protesters – many of whom are setting up camps on campuses to make their point – want a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. And you might have noticed that the protests are happening at a few of the most prestigious/wealthy universities in the US – that’s notable because the students are pushing for their colleges to cut financial ties with Israel. The other thing to note is that reports say some of the protests are being taken over/exacerbated by non-students. Dov Waxman, a professor of Israel studies at UCLA, says that’s making it hard for college administrators to manage the protests – particularly when they turn aggressive.

So what’s being done? 

UCLA’s Chancellor Gene Block says, pending an investigation, there are potential expulsions on the table for this week’s violence, and overnight, police forcibly cleared the protestors’ encampment. Other colleges are opting to negotiate with protesters – Brown University says school officials will hold a vote on divestment if protesters leave. But at a national level, the demonstrations are putting pressure on President Joe Biden – with pro-Israel politicians flagging their concern over a rise in antisemitism. To that point, the Republican-led House of Representatives yesterday voted on the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act. It still needs to go to the Senate, but supporters say the bill would expand the definition of antisemitism. And although they haven’t been anywhere near the scale of the US protests, police are keeping an eye on similar rallies here in Oz – but they’ve stayed mostly civil to date.