Earlier this month, 20 members of the student group BrownU Jews for Ceasefire Now were arrested by the Brown Department of Public Safety under trespassing charges during a University Hall sit-in calling for divestment from “companies that enable war crimes in Gaza,” The Herald previously reported.
Since then, similar protests have taken place on college campuses nationwide, led by chapters of student groups including Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine.
At the University of Michigan, approximately 200 students — among nearly 300 total protesters on Friday — held an almost three-hour pro-Palestine sit-in at a campus administrative building, and 40 were arrested, the Michigan Daily reported this weekend.
The arrested students were detained following earlier police efforts to prevent demonstrators from entering the building. Among those arrested, there were two injuries.
For over a week, students at the University of Pennsylvania have been holding a teach-in at the student union building, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported early Tuesday morning.
The protest was organized by the Freedom School for Palestine, a Penn student group. Though demonstrators were originally told that they must leave or risk arrest, students in contact with administration and campus police have remained on site. There have been no reported arrests resulting from this sit-in.
At Brandeis University, protesters gathered on a campus green in opposition of the school’s “continued support of Israel and the derecognition of the Brandeis chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine,” the Justice reported. Seven individuals, including three students, were arrested.
The rally was promoted by student group Revolutionary Student Organization, which claimed Brandeis was “openly supporting an ongoing genocide and attempting to censor students,” the Justice reported. Nearly an hour into the protest, local police officers demanded the protestors disperse and started a stand-off between officers and demonstrators. The police then made arrests.
Last month, 57 students of approximately 500 protesters were arrested at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst after holding a sit-in at a campus administrative building, the Daily Collegian reported Oct. 26.
The UMass Amherst protest was part of a larger Oct. 25 walkout on around 100 campuses across North America — organized by Dissenters, SJP and several affiliated groups.
That same day, approximately 500 students at Brown also participated in the national walkout, The Herald previously reported.
Samantha is a University News editor who oversees the Affinity & Activism beat. She is a sophomore from Tampa, Florida concentrating in Sociology. In her free time, Samantha likes to cook and watch Survivor.
