Police arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University and City College of New York who demanded U.S. companies to divest from Israel due to its occupation and military assault on Gaza.
NYPD reportedly cleared protesters from encampments and an occupied building.
Columbia’s protesters ignored an ultimatum from the university authorities to leave the camp or risk suspension on Monday. On Tuesday, students took over historic Hamilton Hall on campus, barricading themselves inside.
The building was one of those occupied in civil rights and Viet Nam war protests by students in 1968.
The university president announced that dialogue with protesters had failed, and the institution would not bow to demands to divest from Israel.
Students at New York’s prestigious University want it to divest its $13.6 billion endowment from U.S. companies that have ties with Israel, including Microsoft and Amazon.
Demonstrations unfolding through tented encampments on school grounds have spread nationwide in recent days.
Hundreds of protesters were arrested in some campuses by security forces. Many have subsequently been released while others still face charges or academic sanctions.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said he was troubled by “a series of heavy-handed steps” taken by some universities in the United States to disperse and dismantle Gaza war protests.
UN rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement that freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly were fundamental to society.
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