{"id":27500,"date":"2024-05-22T03:03:45","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T08:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=27500"},"modified":"2024-05-22T03:03:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T08:03:53","slug":"drexel-threatens-to-clear-encampment-as-arrests-linked-to-israel-hamas-war-protests-exceed-3000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=27500","title":{"rendered":"Drexel threatens to clear encampment as arrests linked to Israel-Hamas war protests exceed 3,000"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Drexel University in Philadelphia threatened to clear an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters on Monday as arrests linked to campus demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas<\/u><\/a> war surpassed the 3,000 mark nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drexel President John Fry said the encampment had disrupted campus life and \u201ccannot be allowed to remain in place.\u201d Fry called on protesters to leave immediately but said in a statement Monday night that he had authorized \u201call necessary steps to clear the encampment safely.\u201d He did not say when that might happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classes at Drexel were held virtually on Monday as police kept watch over the demonstration on the school\u2019s Korman Quad. Many Drexel employees were told to work from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students and others have set up tent encampments on campuses around the country to press colleges to cut financial ties with Israel. Tensions over the war have been high on campuses since the fall but demonstrations spread quickly following an April 18 police crackdown on an encampment at Columbia University.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 3,000 people have been arrested on U.S. campuses over the past month. Campuses have been calmer recently, with fewer arrests, as students leave for summer break. Still, colleges have been vigilant for disruptions to commencement ceremonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>At Drexel, which has about 22,000 students, Fry said protesters \u201chave created a hostile, confrontational environment by subjecting passersby to antisemitic speech and by issuing several \u2018demands\u2019 that have unacceptably targeted individual members of our faculty and professional staff\u201d as well as Jewish groups on campus. He previously threatened disciplinary action against Drexel students participating in the protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>The Drexel protesters\u2019 demands ranged from the university administration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and divesting from companies that do business with Israel, to abolition of the Drexel police department and termination of the school\u2019s chapter of Hillel, the Jewish campus organization, and another Jewish campus group, Chabad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Drexel Palestine Coalition had no immediate response to Fry\u2019s ultimatum. The protest organizers said on Instagram in response to an earlier statement from Fry that \u201cit is slander to accuse the encampment of \u2018hateful\u2019 or \u2018intimidating\u2019 actions when we have done neither.\u201d The group accused Drexel and city police of harassment and intimidation. A pro-Palestinian group of faculty and staff also blasted Fry on Monday for shuttering campus facilities and said the encampment was \u201cnot disruptive to learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drexel planned a \u201cphased return\u201d to normal operations on Tuesday, with labs and some other classes to be held in person and lecture classes to stay remote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere, graduate students at the University of California, Santa Cruz, went on strike Monday<\/u><\/a> as part of a rolling, systemwide protest over how administrators have responded to pro-Palestinian encampments, including arrests of protesters at the Los Angeles, San Diego and Irvine campuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, meanwhile, declined to charge four University of Pennsylvania protesters who were among 19 arrested Friday night, citing a lack of evidence submitted by campus police. Krasner\u2019s office approved misdemeanor charges against three others. The remaining 12 arrested Friday night were given citations for failing to disperse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Penn\u2019s main commencement ceremony was held Monday under tightened security and a ban on flags and signs. There were no disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>But dozens of students walked out of Yale University\u2019s commencement ceremony, some waving Palestinian flags. Yale said in a prepared statement that \u201ca number of graduating students chose to peacefully walk out during the ceremony. University staff helped guide these individuals to an area outside the event space, and the ceremony continued as scheduled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wesleyan University in Connecticut said it had reached agreement with student protesters to review possible divestment, with meetings scheduled for later this month and in the fall. Wesleyan President Michael Roth announced the deal over the weekend and disclosed that 1.7% of Wesleyan\u2019s endowment was invested in aerospace and defense businesses, but that none were directly involved in the manufacture of weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the agreement, Wesleyan protesters cleared their encampment on Monday, according to a school spokesperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Associated Press has recorded at least 82 incidents since April 18 where arrests were made at campus protests across the U.S. At least 3,025 people have been arrested on the campuses of 61 colleges and universities. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7,<\/u><\/a> killing around 1,200 people and taking an additional 250 hostage. Palestinian militants still hold about 100 captives, while Israel\u2019s military has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, which doesn\u2019t distinguish between civilians and combatants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

apnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drexel University in Philadelphia threatened to clear an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters on Monday as arrests linked to campus demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war surpassed the 3,000 mark nationwide. Drexel President John Fry said the encampment had disrupted campus life and \u201ccannot be allowed to remain in place.\u201d Fry called on protesters to leave immediately but said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":27504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5781],"tags":[2411,28535,28252,28536,1521,1190],"class_list":["post-27500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-arrested","tag-drexel","tag-encampment","tag-israel-hamas","tag-protesters","tag-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27507,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27500\/revisions\/27507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}