By Aaron Miller-
In the early hours of Friday, police dismantled a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and cleared protesters from the University of Pennsylvania’s campus in Philadelphia. These actions followed the tear-gassing of protesters and the removal of an encampment at the University of Arizona just hours prior.
Video footage from Cambridge, Massachusetts, showed police moving through the MIT encampment in riot gear, encircling the site around 4 am and giving protesters a 15-minute ultimatum to vacate.
Ten students who remained were subsequently arrested, as confirmed by the university’s president. Outside the camp, a crowd began to gather, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans, but were dispersed by 6 am.
Meanwhile, at the University of Arizona in Tucson, campus police in riot gear deployed tear gas late on Thursday to disperse protesters before tearing down an encampment consisting of wooden and plastic barriers on campus.
The university cited violation of school policy as the reason for the action, stating that warnings to remove the encampment were ignored.
The University of Arizona also reported attacks on police vehicles, with rocks and water bottles being thrown at officers and university staff.
In Philadelphia, police detained individuals at an encampment that had been present at the University of Pennsylvania for over two weeks. Officers moved in after issuing a warning to protesters to leave campus or potentially face arrest.
These events mark a significant escalation in tensions between protesters and authorities on campuses across the United States and in Europe.
While some colleges have tolerated demonstrations, others have taken a stricter stance, citing concerns about disruptions to campus life and safety.
The protest movement, which began nearly three weeks ago at Columbia University in New York City, has since spread to college campuses nationwide.
Demonstrators are seeking to draw attention to the casualties in the Israel-Hamas conflict and calling for their schools to sever ties with Israel or companies supporting its military efforts.
More than 2,500 people have been arrested in connection with these protests.
The actions at MIT come after previous attempts by police to clear the encampment were met with resistance from protesters, who restored the site, including approximately a dozen tents, in the heart of the campus in Cambridge.
Prior to the removal of the encampment, MIT had begun suspending dozens of students involved, barring them from academic activities and graduation ceremonies.
Protesters have vowed to persist in their demands for MIT to end all ties with the Israeli military, despite these measures. The encampment has particularly angered Jewish students, prompting counterprotests near the site.
Quinn Perian, an undergraduate student at MIT and organizer for MIT Jews for Ceasefire, emphasized the resilience of the movement, stating, “This is only going to make us stronger. They can’t arrest the movement.”
MIT President Sally Kornbluth, acknowledging the suffering in Gaza while expressing concerns for the safety of the campus community, had warned earlier in the week that the encampment would need to be removed.
In a letter addressing the issue, she underscored her responsibility to ensure the campus’s physical safety and functionality for all, as well as to uphold freedom of expression.
She noted that the encampment had increasingly compromised these obligations.
Counter protesters at MIT covered a lawn with small Israeli flags and displayed posters of individuals abducted by militants in the attack that triggered the conflict in Gaza.