From US to Australia to India: Students lead pro-Palestine protests across the globe

Educational institutions have been at the centre of protests for decades and the stir against Israel’s siege in Gaza that have erupted on college campuses around the United States are merely the latest in a tradition of student-led activism.

The protests have now spread to institutions across the globe, coalescing and furthering the movement from the UK to Australia and even India.

Since April 18, nearly 2,000 people have been arrested across US in connection with these demonstrations, news agency Reuters reported, with many schools, including the Columbia University in New York and Princeton University, calling in police to dismantle the protests.

Here are the countries that have been witnessing protests at educational institutions over the conflict:

United States

The university campuses in the United States are the epicenter of anti-war demonstrations, with students rallying against Israel’s month-long siege on Gaza by calling on President Joe Biden to stop the bloodshed and divest from companies that support the Israeli government.

Pro Palestinian students lock arms, sing and chant as they braced for New York Police Department officers to raid campus after Columbia University President Minouche Shafik called on the NYPD to dismantle encampments and remove individuals from Hamilton Hall, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. (Seyma Bayram via AP)

Most recently, protesters briefly disrupted a commencement ceremony at the University of Michigan on Saturday while demonstrators faced off with police at the University of Virginia, reported Reuters. These schools join a long list of colleges, namely Columbia, Yale, Brown, Princeton, UCLA, among others, who have seen large scale student action and days-long encampments.

Over the past few weeks, these spaces have become the political flashpoint, with the encampments being criticized for being ‘antisemitic’.

Australia

Galvanised by these demonstrations in the US, hundreds of people at gathered Australia’s largest tertiary institutions, the University of Sydney, demanding it divest from companies with ties to Israel.

Last week, pro-Palestinian activists set up an encampment outside the sandstone main hall at the school, reported Reuters.

A protester holds up a sign during a rally at The University of Sydney. (Photo: REUTERS)

Similar camps also sprung up at universities in Melbourne, Canberra and other Australian cities.

United Kingdom

Encampments have also been set up at the universities of Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol, Warwick and Newcastle, among others, in the United Kingdom. Students are calling for their individual universities to divest from firms that supply arms to Israel and in some cases sever links with universities in Israel.

“Warwick Stands With Palestine” coalition at the University of Warwick starts a protest to occupy the Piazza on campus, in solidarity with Palestinians and the students everywhere who are speaking out. pic.twitter.com/lc0eNR4Oh2

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 26, 2024

While the focus of the protest movement in the UK in recent months has been on mass marches in London and other cities, students occupied university buildings and held demonstrations, which have been on a smaller scale and have attracted less attention.

France

In France, police forcibly evacuated protesters last week, from a pro-Gaza sit-in at Sciences Po in Paris, the country’s top political science school. Officials said 70-odd people were arrested, reported Reuters.

The school has become the epicentre of French student protests over the war and academic ties with Israel, which have spread across France, the report noted.

Canada

Over the last week, anti-war camps have also been set up in Canada’s largest universities, such as the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia and the University of Ottawa, echoing the call for divestment from groups with Israeli ties.

Protesters in support of Palestinians stand at an encampment, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at McGill University’s campus in Montreal, Quebec, Canada May 2, 2024. (REUTERS/Peter McCabe)

On Thursday, pushing back on these demonstrations, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said the encampment at Montreal’s McGill University should be dismantled.

Mexico

The protests have also reached the other side of the US border, with tents erected in front of the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s (UNAM) head office in Mexico City, reported France24, where students are urging the country’s administration to break diplomatic ties with Israel.

Students attach a Palestinian flag to a post, during a campus protest at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in support of Palestinians, and to break academic, political and economic relations with Israel, in Mexico City, Mexico. May 2, 2024. (REUTERS/Raquel Cunha)

India

In India, US ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti’s visit to Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was postponed amid a pro-Palestine demonstration by the students’ union on the campus.

Protestors held banners saying ‘Free Palestine’, ‘No more money for Netanyahu’, and ‘Stop the genocide now’, reported India Today, highlighting their strong opposition to the US’s funding of the Israel government amid the war.

Lebanon

Hundreds of students had also gathered at campuses in Lebanon last week, waving Palestinian flags and demanding their universities boycott companies that do business in Israel, as per Reuters. Images also captured students at the American University of Beirut protesting the war outside the gates.

Kuwait

Kuwait University, too, held a solidarity rally, where one placard read, “From Kuwait University students to Columbia University students: ‘we stand with you'”, reported The Washington Post.

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