US university cancels graduation ceremony as pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses expand

The University of Southern California (USC) has canceled the main graduation ceremony, from May 10, citing security measures, writes the BBC. The decision of the institution in Los Angeles comes in the context of the ongoing protests against the war in Gaza, which broke out in dozens of campuses in the USA, notes News.ro.

At Emory University in Atlanta, 28 protesters were arrested on Thursday after they refused to leave.

This “flood” of campus protests began at Columbia University in New York City last week.

In a statement issued Thursday, USC said it “will not be able to hold the main ceremony that traditionally brings 65,000 students, families and friends to our campus.”

The decision comes after the Police made several arrests during Wednesday’s confrontations with protesters on the university campus and ordered the dismantling of a camp.

It also comes after USC said earlier this month that Muslim student Asna Tabassum is no longer allowed to give a valedictorian speech due to unspecified security threats.

“City of Cops”

Protests also broke out at Emory University in Atlanta, where participants said they supported the Palestinians, but also expressed their objections to the establishment of a police training center in Atlanta.

Plans for the center have sparked local controversy and the project has been dubbed “Cop City” by opponents.

In a statement, Emory said the outside protesters were later joined by “members of the Emory community” and that the group was “disrupting the university as our students complete classes and prepare for final exams.”

Police said the group “walked past” officers providing protection in the area set up for the ceremony on Thursday morning, and that some members of the crowd threw “objects” at the officers.

“Due to the direct attack on police officers, law enforcement officers used chemical irritants to assist in crowd control,” Emory Police said.

“It turned from a peaceful protest to chaos in a minute”

Atlanta police also confirmed that irritants were used, but denied firing rubber bullets at protesters.

One of the protesters filmed while being detained by the Police declined to identify himself as Noelle McAfee, head of the Philosophy Department at Emory.

McAfee said she was watching what she described as a peaceful protest when police began to act and protesters began to march.

“It went from a peaceful protest to chaos in a minute,” she said. She stated that she stayed put and was detained shortly.

Protesters call on universities to ‘free themselves from genocide’

The latest wave of campus protests against the war began at Columbia University in New York, after school officials called in police to clear a new encampment of protesters and more than 100 people were arrested.

The movement has now included dozens of college campuses in the country.

Activists are calling on universities to “free themselves from genocide” and stop investing school endowments in companies involved in arms manufacturing and other industries that support Israel’s war on Gaza.

Chisato Mimura, a law student and protest leader at Yale University in Connecticut, told the BBC that activists were unhappy that President Joe Biden and university officials “literally funded and sent weapons used in genocide.”

Israel denies accusations of genocide

Israel vehemently denies any suggestion that it is committing genocide in the Palestinian enclave, although the International Court of Justice has said the allegation is “plausible”.

Some of the protests were considered anti-Semitic. A number of Jewish students said they did not feel safe at Columbia and other universities, although other Jewish students joined the demonstrations.

At Columbia, the university administration set a deadline of midnight on Thursday to reach an agreement with protesting students to avoid further disruption.

At a press conference, university spokesman Ben Chang said that if no agreement is reached, “we will have to consider options to restore peace on campus,” but did not specify what steps would be taken. .

Chang indicated that the university was preparing for further protests Thursday night.

“Genocide Joe”

In Syracuse, New York, President Biden was greeted by about 100 protesters with signs reading “Genocide Joe” and other slogans as he attended an official event.

The war began after gunmen led by Hamas launched an unprecedented attack in southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and taking another 253 hostage in Gaza.

More than 34,180 people – mostly children and women – have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health there.