Trump compares campus protests to Jan 6 riots, as Biden pushes for Gaza truce to stave off political heat

Former United States president Donald Trump on Tuesday (Apr 30) compared the ongoing university protests in the country to the January 6 Capitol attack. He lamented that the pro-Palestine protesters at Columbia University could be treated lenientlythan the rioters who stormed the Capitol in 2021.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, spoke in the hallway outside a Manhattan courtroom where hiscriminal trial in hush money case is taking place. The former president questioned whether student demonstrators would be treated the same way as his supporters who attacked the Capitol on Jan 6.

The Gaza war began with the Hamas attack on October 7 that led to the deaths of about 1,170 people in Israel, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

In retaliation, Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas and launched an offensive that has killed at least 34,356 people in Gaza so far, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Palestinian militants also took some 250 hostages on October 7. Israel estimates 129 remain in Gaza, including 34 believed to be dead. Now, a truce deal is hanging by a thread, with Israel demanding their release, andHamas asking for a complete ceasefire.

The six-month-old war has deteriorated humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip. People struggling for food, clean water, medicines, and other basic amenities. Fears are also looming over a possible invasion of Rafah, where more than one million people have sought refuge from months of Israeli bombardment, which will be catastrophic.

Now, global calls are being made, urging both sides to finalise a hostage deal and ceasefire, which appears to be unlikely as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said to invade Rafah "with or without a deal".

People around the world are showing frustration over both situations - hostages and the humanitarian crisis in the Strip, with top US campuses becoming centre-stage of demonstrations. The war has sparked anger and division among people. In US universities, some Jewish students feel targeted and abused while others have taken leading roles in demonstrations.

Israel-Hamas war has put West Asia on the brink of a broader conflict, even fears of a nuclear threat, with recent escalation involving Iran, but the studentprotests over the Gaza war have turned into a new US political battleground.

President Joe Biden is pushing hard for a truce, which he hopes would be the extinguisher to douse the flames of war besides serving as a much-needed force for his presidency.

Otherwise, the university protests would most likely become a burning issue in the presidential elections, scheduled for later this year. One of the reasons why Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pressing fortruce, while reiterating US opposition to an Israeli assault on the crowded Gaza city of Rafah.

Trump and other prominent Republicans are not shying away from seizing the political opportunity the ongoing campus protests have provided.

Watch:Why has Netanyahu failed to secure the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza War so far?

Clashes erupt at UCLA campus

The protests have intensified with clashes breaking out at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles on Wednesday (May 1), forcing police to take action. At UCLA, a tent encampment was set up last week.

Local media reported that the clashes erupted between rival pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups. This comes as dozens of universities around the US, including Columbia University and New York City, struggle to contain similar protests.

In a post on social platform X, LA police said, "At the request of UCLA, due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus, the LAPD is responding to assist UCLA PD, and other law enforcement agencies, to restore order and maintain public safety."

Authorities have also made dozens of arrests on campuses across the nation after skirmishes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

The initial days of protests were peaceful, but they turned violent with an expansion of the size of the pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA in recent days. The counter-protesters have become increasingly vocal and visible on the campus.

In a report by the news agency Reuters, Mary Osako, who is UCLA's vice chancellor for UCLA strategic communications, said that chaos erupted when some demonstrators broke through a barrier that the school had set up to separate the two factions.

Images and videos shared on social media showed protesters and counter-protesters clashing with sticks and tearing down metal barricades.

Some were seen launching fireworks or hurling objects at each other in the dark, which lit up with laser pointers and bright flashlights.

UCLA Chancellor Gene D Block warned ahead of clashes that protesters including "both members of the UCLA community and others unaffiliated with our campus" had set up a camp last week.

"Many of the demonstrators, as well as counter-demonstrators who have come to the area, have been peaceful in their activism," Block wrote in a letter posted on the university website on Tuesday.

"But the tactics of others have frankly been shocking and shameful. We have seen instances of violence. These incidents have put many on our campus, especially our Jewish students, in a state of anxiety and fear," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)