Anti-Israel protests in the United States, 550 students arrested

International Desk: Anti-Israel student protests have intensified at US universities. Police have so far arrested more than 550 students for participating in the protests.

In the meantime, students are holding tents on their respective campuses and protesting peacefully on behalf of the oppressed people of Palestine. But the police is stopping their protest. The students demand that companies investing in Israel and fueling the Gaza war be shut down. Protesters say they are willing to risk arrest. But the movement will not stop until their demands are met. About 550 people were arrested at major US universities, according to Reuters.

Massive anti-Israel protests are taking place on the campuses of Harvard, Columbia, Yale, UC Berkeley and other US universities. University authorities say the protests are often unsanctioned and police are called in to quell them. Over the past two days, law enforcement has used Tasers and tear gas against student protesters at Atlanta's Emory University at the direction of university administrators.

Activists say officers dressed in riot gear and on horseback have disrupted protests at the University of Texas. A video of a professor being tackled and handcuffed at Emory University has gone viral on social media. In the video, it is seen that the police manhandled a student on the ground. Professor Caroline Fohlin is trying to prevent that.

The protesters have only one thing to say: they stand in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. They want universities to reduce their investments in those affiliated with Israel and in weapons that fuel the Gaza war. US President Joe Biden said earlier this week that blatant anti-Semitism has no place on college campuses. But the White House said the president supports freedom of expression at US universities.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union condemned the arrests of protesters and called on authorities to respect their right to free speech.