Video: Student protests against Gaza offensive escalate

Protests by students against Israel’s military operations in Gaza, which began following the unprecedented October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, have spread across several countries. Here’s a summary of the major protests:

**United States**

Since April 17, demonstrators have gathered on at least 40 U.S. university campuses, frequently setting up tent camps to protest the rising death toll in Gaza. Nearly 2,000 people have been detained in these protests, which echo demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Recently, police have dismantled several student sit-ins, including one at New York University at the request of its administrators. Demonstrators barricaded inside Columbia University complained of police brutality when officers cleared the faculty. At the University of California, Los Angeles, hundreds of police dismantled a camp, detaining more than 200 protesters. Dozens of police in riot gear used chemical sprays to break up a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Virginia. Brown University reached an agreement with students to remove their camp in exchange for considering divesting from companies profiting from the conflict in Gaza. On Thursday, President Joe Biden addressed the protests, insisting “order must prevail.”

**France**

Police forcibly removed protesters from a pro-Gaza sit-in at Sciences Po in Paris, arresting 91 people. The institution’s interim administrator, Jean Basseres, rejected student demands to examine the university’s links with Israeli institutions. In contrast, the Union of Jewish Students in France set up a “dialogue table” outside the Sorbonne University, where a guest speaker noted that students were “outraged by what’s going on in the Middle East.” Paris-Dauphine University banned a conference involving a Franco-Palestinian expert critical of Israel, but the ban was later overturned by the courts. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the university blockades.

**Germany**

Police intervened to remove protesters outside Humboldt University in Berlin after they refused to relocate. Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner criticized the protest, noting that the city didn’t want to see events similar to those in the United States or France.

**Canada**

Students protested against the conflict in Gaza in several cities, including Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. Hundreds joined a camp at Montreal’s McGill University, demanding that the institution cut ties with Israel. McGill administrators have called for the camp’s removal, citing that certain protesters are not students.

**Australia**

Hundreds of supporters of Gaza and Israel clashed at Sydney University on Friday, but the event passed peacefully. Pro-ceasefire demonstrators have been camped on university grounds, demanding that the institution sever ties with Israeli entities and reject funding from arms companies.

**Ireland**

Students at Trinity College Dublin began a sit-in, describing the protest as a “solidarity encampment with Palestine.”

**Mexico**

Dozens of students from UNAM, Mexico’s largest university, set up a camp in the capital, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans. They want the Mexican government to sever ties with Israel.

**Switzerland**

Around 100 students have been occupying the entrance of a building at Lausanne University since Thursday