Student Movement for Palestine Stands Defiant in Face of Police Repression

Police throughout the country have continued to heavily repress students engaging in protest in solidarity with Gaza. Despite the brutalization of student protesters on campuses such as University of Texas – Austin and the University of Southern California, students continue to stage encampments across the globe.

This is happening in the backdrop of US President Biden signing a bill into law that would provide USD 26 billion to Israel as it conducts genocide in Gaza. Even the European Union has backed a UN call for an investigation (which the US refuses to support) into the over 300 killed Palestinians found in mass graves beneath the ruins of two hospitals. Israel has also begun its attack on Rafah, killing five people in an air strike on a residential building in Rafah City. 

Students at UT Austin have had to withstand brutal repression, as ultra-right wing Texas Governor Greg Abbot called in State Troopers, some mounted on horses, who violently clashed with protesters and made multiple arrests. 

Despite the downpour of state violence, student protesters held their ground, chanting ““You don’t scare us!” and “Get off our campus!”

University of Texas students chanting “You don’t scare us” and “Get off our campus” to state troopers sent by Gov. Abbott with support of Biden and Democrats. But students can’t defeat the state on their own or on the campuses. They must turn to the working class to defend their… pic.twitter.com/VmVoGbitf1

— Jerry White (@jerrywhiteSEP) April 24, 2024

Protesters also experienced a wave of repression at the University of Southern California, where arrests are currently underway as Los Angeles Police attempt to clear the encampment.

Happening now: USC protestors being arrested by heavy police presence, students are standing their ground to maintain the Gaza encampments. pic.twitter.com/8CjrwG07q3

— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) April 25, 2024

Earlier in the day, Los Angeles police used batons and fists to violently beat organizers. Organizers continued to be defiant in the face of such repression, however, and managed to successfully de-arrest a protester who had been detained in a police car, surrounding the car and chanting, “Let him go!”

BREAKING: At USC’s Gaza solidarity encampment, protestors surround an LAPD car and successful de-arrest a student. Brutal crackdown by police is ongoing but the students are undeterred pic.twitter.com/nub0TqtQcf

— Palestinian Youth Movement (@palyouthmvmt) April 24, 2024

On the morning of April 24, Columbia student organizers made important announcements to those participating in the week-long protest, the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Butler Lawn. The previous night, Columbia administration had threatened to bring in the National Guard to sweep the encampment, in a disturbing echo of the Kent State massacre in 1970 of four students protesting the US war in Vietnam by the Ohio National Guard. 

However, that morning, students announced to the entire encampment that “we won a huge concession—we have it in writing that we are here for 48 hours and we will not be swept; we will not be moved!”

Due to a mass mobilization of both students and supporters, inside and outside campus gates, the administration was deterred from sweeping the camp, according to organizers. The administration has set a new deadline for an encampment sweep: Friday at 3 am.

As student organizers at Columbia plan for repression, other campuses across the country and around the world continue to establish their own encampments in solidarity with Gaza at universities such as Harvard and Brown. On April 24, students Sciences Po in Paris erected their own encampment in solidarity with Gaza.

Incredible video from @HarvardPSC

Just yesterday, Harvard University placed the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) under suspension. Less than 24 hours later, students launched a Gaza solidarity encampment.

THE MORE THEY TRY TO SILENCE US THE LOUDER WE WILL BE pic.twitter.com/SnWTuiAan7

— National Students for Justice in Palestine (@NationalSJP) April 24, 2024

‼️‼️BREAKING: SciencesPo Paris, the top university in France which hosts a dual degree program with Columbia, has just launched a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. This officially marks the spread of the protests to Europe. So incredibly proud of my peers🔥🇵🇸💪 pic.twitter.com/wooD1wPSHm

— maryam alwan🇵🇸 (@maryamalwan) April 24, 2024

Students across the globe have issued messages of solidarity with the US students braving repression in solidarity with Gaza. The Arab and Maghreb Youth Student Front Against Normalization and in Support of Peoples’ Causes has called for a “global youth student battle in support of Palestinian resistance and all solidarity forces with it,” stating that “what happened at Columbia University in the United States today is the best evidence of what we say, as after six days of sit-ins inside the campus, many other American universities like the University of California witnessed student movements supporting Palestine, shaking the throne of the entity and pushing the Biden administration to ruthlessly suppress protests supporting the Palestinian people and demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza.” 

The Student Front has called for a mobilization of all Arab and Maghreb youth students to “to intensify field movements in support of the Palestinian cause and to stop the genocidal war in steadfast Palestine, strengthening the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and protesting in front of American embassies and their symbols.”

The International People’s Assembly (IPA) also issued a statement denouncing the  “brutal repression and mass arrests of students peacefully protesting their administrations’ investments in the Zionist entity and demanding an end to all academic partnerships and cooperation.” 

“We call on all progressive and revolutionary forces around the world to join in solidarity with these students and the people of Palestine resisting on the frontlines,” the IPA stated.