|
Police dismantle anti-Israel encampment at MIT, begin clearing at other campuses
[IsraelTimes] Police in riot gear also clear out encampments at Penn and University of Arizona; MIT president says encampment ’no longer safely sustainable’Police early Friday dismantled a pro-Paleostinian, anti-Israel tent encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and moved to clear protesters from the University of Pennsylvania’s campus in Philadelphia, just hours after police tear-gassed protesters and took down an encampment at the University of Arizona. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, video showed police roaming through the MIT encampment and organizers said about 10 students were tossed into the calaboose. Police in riot gear arrived around 4 a.m., encircled the camp and gave protesters about 15 minutes to leave. A crowd outside the camp began gathering and chanting pro-Paleostinian slogans but was dispersed by 6 a.m. At the University of Arizona, campus police in riot gear fired tear gas late Thursday at protesters before tearing down an encampment that included wood and plastic barriers on campus. In a statement, the University of Arizona said it made the decision because the encampment violated school policy. "A structure made from wooden pallets and other debris was erected on campus property after 5 p.m. in violation of the policy," the school said in a statement. "University officials issued warnings to remove the encampment and disperse. The warnings were ignored." The school also said that police vehicles were spiked, and rocks and water bottles thrown at officers and university staff. In Philadelphia early Friday, police detained people who were at an encampment that has been in place at the University of Pennsylvania’s campus for more than two weeks. Officers moved in after giving pro-Paleostinian protesters a warning to leave campus or face possible arrest. Tensions have ratcheted up in standoffs with protesters on campuses across the United States and increasingly in Europe. Some colleges cracked down immediately, while others have tolerated the demonstrations. Some have begun to lose patience and call in the police over concerns about disruptions to campus life and safety. The pro-Paleostinian protest movement began nearly three weeks ago at Columbia University in New York City. It has since swept college campuses nationwide, with more than 2,500 people arrested. The move at MIT comes several days after police first attempted to clear the encampment only to see protesters storm past barriers and restore the encampment, which includes about a dozen tents in the heart of the campus in Cambridge. Before removing the encampment, MIT earlier in the week had started suspending dozens of students involved in the encampment, meaning they wouldn’t be able to take part in academic activities or commencement. Protesters insisted the move would not stop them from demanding that MIT end all ties to the Israeli military. "This is only going to make us stronger. They can’t arrest the movement," Quinn Perian, an undergraduate student at MIT and organizer for MIT Jews for Ceasefire, said. "We are going to continue and won’t back down until MIT agrees to cut ties with the Israeli military. MIT would rather arrest and suspend some students than they would end their complicity with the genocide going on in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppressionand disproportionate response... The encampment had been up for at least two weeks and especially angered Jewish students, who have held counter-protests nearby. They covered a lawn with small Israeli flags and put up posters of some of the people kidnapped by Lions of Islam during the October 7 attack in which some 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 252 were kidnapped. MIT President Sally Kornbluth, working to strike a balance between recognizing the suffering in Gaza with concerns about the "safety of our community," warned Monday the encampment would have to be removed. "This prolonged use of MIT property as a venue for protest, without permission, especially on an issue with such sharp disagreement, is no longer safely sustainable," she wrote to the MIT community. Anti-Israel protesters have contested that their movement, which calls for universities to disclose investments in Israeli companies and divest from them, is peaceful and not antisemitic. Many Jewish students, however, have reported being harassed, and chants calling for the elimination of Israel are often heard. Posted by: trailing wife 2024-05-11 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=698729 |