Over 2,100 arrests made in pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses, non-students make up majority

Pro-Palestinian protestors at UCLA received unexpected support this week. Faculty members, alerted by a student call for help, volunteered to join the protest.

"Students expressed feeling unsafe," said Graeme Blair, a political science professor, "and they wanted our assistance in improving the situation."

Dozens of faculty activists responded swiftly, pledging to join the students in shifts at their on-campus encampment.

On Thursday (May 2) morning, the police cracked down on the protests where the faculty members were joining hands with students, allowing themselves to be arrested.

Nationwide pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses have resulted in over 2,100 arrests. Police employed riot gear, tactical vehicles, and flash-bangs to dismantle tent encampments and occupied buildings.

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According to an NYPD official, majority of people arrested at Columbia were not affiliated with the university.

It was one of the clearest instances of a little-noted fact of the student demonstrations against the war in Gaza — that a small fraction of faculty members at UCLA, Columbia and other universities have provided logistical and emotional support to the protesters.

Some faculty members have formal ties to Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, the counterpart of Students for Justice in Palestine, a decentralised national network of pro-Palestinian groups.

Meanwhile, an NYPD police officer who was involved in clearing protesters from a Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall earlier this week fired his gun inside the hall, the Manhattan district attorney's office confirmed on Thursday.

The office said students were not in the immediate vicinity of the gunfire and that no one was hurt. The incident is now under review.

The pro-Palestinian protests have ignited tensions among faculty. Some criticise the activist professors, accusing them of glorifying demonstrations that have disrupted campus life.

However, at Columbia University, some faculty expressed solidarity with the students, even if they didn't fully support their message.

They provided logistical support by delivering supplies, integrating the protests into their curriculum, and participating in discussions. They even formed a physical barrier to potentially delay police action.