This week, pro-Palestinian demonstrators at UCLA got unexpected backing. Upon hearing a student cry for assistance, faculty colleagues offered to participate in the demonstration.
“Students expressed feeling unsafe,” Graeme Blair stated. A political science professor, “and they wanted our assistance in improving the situation.”
Reacting quickly, dozens of faculty activists promised to work shifts alongside the students at their on-campus campsite.
The police clamped down on the demonstrations early on Thursday, May 2, when faculty members were joining forces with students and risking arrest.
It is important to note that more than 2,100 people have been arrested as a result of nationwide pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses. Police dismantled tent encampments and occupied buildings using tactical vehicles, riot gear, and flash bangs.
The bulk of those detained at Columbia, according to an NYPD official, had no connection to the university.
It was one of the most blatant examples of a little-known aspect of the student protests against the war in Gaza: a tiny percentage of U.C.L.A., Columbia, and other university faculty members have given the demonstrators emotional and logistical support.
Some academic staff members are officially affiliated with the decentralized national network of pro-Palestinian organizations known as Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, which is the equivalent of Students for Justice in Palestine.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office verified on Thursday that an NYPD police officer who had assisted in removing demonstrators from Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall earlier this week had discharged his firearm inside the building.
According to the office, no one was injured and pupils were not in the direct line of fire. We are currently reviewing the event.
Tensions among professors have been sparked by the pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Some people criticize the activist teachers, claiming that they are elevating protests that have caused disruptions to college life.
Nevertheless, some Columbia University professors showed support for the students’ cause, even though they disagreed with their message. By bringing supplies, incorporating the protests into their lessons, and taking part in conversations, they offered logistical support. To perhaps stall police action, they even erected a physical barrier.