NEW YORK (AP) — As students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at college campuses across U.S. dug in Saturday and dozens of demonstrators were arrested, some universities moved to shut down encampments after reports of antisemitic activity.
With the death toll mounting in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.
Click to Gallery
NEW YORK (AP) — As students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at college campuses across U.S. dug in Saturday and dozens of demonstrators were arrested, some universities moved to shut down encampments after reports of antisemitic activity.
Students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Protesters confront police at Northeastern University in Boston on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Officers arrested about 100 people on Saturday morning as demonstrators locked arms and chanted slogans. The encampment at Northeastern was one of several that demonstrators set up at universities in the Boston area this week. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via AP)
FILE - A University of Southern California protester is detained by USC Department of Public Safety officers during a pro-Palestinian occupation at the campus' Alumni Park, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
FILE - University of Southern California protesters carry a tent around Alumni Park on the University of Southern California to keep security from removing it during a pro-Palestinian occupation, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
FILE - A University of Southern California protester, right, confronts a University Public Safety officer at the campus' Alumni Park during a pro-Palestinian occupation, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
FILE - New York Police Department officers from the Strategic Response Group form a wall of protection around Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters Michael Gerber and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kay Daughtry, not shown, during a news conference regarding the ongoing pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Columbia University in New York, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, File)
A Pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment is seen at the Columbia University, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
FILE - A sign that reads, "Gaza Solidarity Encampment," is seen during the pro-Palestinian protest at the Columbia University campus in New York, Monday April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, File)
Northeastern University police remove and arrest protesters one by one as they sit in zip tie handcuffs at the tent encampment on campus in Boston, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Dozens of NU students and other protesters who set up tents with them on the NU campus were arrested by state, Boston and NU police. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters camp out in tents at Columbia University on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in New York.(AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
George Washington University students, who declined to provide their names, hug during a protest of the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. The student at left is inside the fence of the school's University Yard, unable to leave because he would not be allowed back in. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University sit in a tent to avoid the rain in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A Pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment is seen at the Columbia University, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A George Washington University student, who declined to give her name, works on a school assignment while joining other students in protesting the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
George Washington University students protest the Israel-Hamas war at the university in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Pro-Palestinian protesters camp out in tents at Columbia University on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in New York. With the death toll mounting in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus. (AP Photo)
The Palestinian flag is flown during a protest of the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Pro-Palestinian protesters camp out in tents at Columbia University on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in New York. With the death toll mounting in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus. (AP Photo)
Pro-Palestinian protesters camp out in tents at Columbia University on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in New York. With the death toll mounting in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus. (AP Photo)
Police clear an encampment on the Northeastern University campus in Boston, early Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
A chalk statement is seen on the road leading to the George Washington University Yard as students protest the Israel-Hamas war, in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A George Washington University police officer stands watch in the schools University Yard which has been closed as students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A George Washington University police officer stands near the statue of George Washington in the University Yard as student protest the Israel-Hamas war, at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A statue of George Washington draped in a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh is seen at George Washington University as students demonstrate on campus during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Israel supporters conter-protest outside a makeshift camp with a Pro-Palestinian theme staged on the UCLA campus, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities across the country are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A group of pro-Israel supporters hold arms as they sing and dance outside a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Friday, April 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities across the country are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A UCLA student poses for graduation pictures outside Royce Hall across a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Friday, April 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
UCLA campus police cycle around the perimeter of a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Friday, April 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities across the country are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Pro-Palestinian supporters hold up a sign and flag inside an encampment on the UCLA campus Friday, April 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities across the country are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Students protesting against the war in Gaza stand next to a Palestinian flag and tents at an encampment in Harvard Yard, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
George Washington University police close the student encampment as students protest on the street during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
George Washington University police close a student encampment as students demonstrate during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment is seen at the Columbia University, Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
People prepare to camp out for the night during a pro-Palestinian protest at the College Green in the heart of the University of Pennsylvania campus in the in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Demonstrators gather on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, Thursday, April 25, 2024, to protest the war in Gaza, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
People lock arms during a Pro-Palestinian protest on Penn's campus in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Pro-Israel demonstrators chant during the "Bring Them Home Now" rally outside the Columbia University , Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Pro-Israeli demonstrators gather near a Pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Counter-demonstrators supporting Israel march near a Pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Central Florida, in Orlando, Fla., Friday, April 26, 2024. Pro-Palestine protesters were estimated at about 200, with the Israel group being less than a dozen. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
Students protesting against the war in Gaza, and passersby walking through Harvard Yard, are seen next to the statue of John Harvard, the first major benefactor of Harvard College, draped in the Palestinian flag, at an encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Pro-Palestinian protesters cheer while listening to speaker Maryam Imam during a demonstration in support of Palestine at the University of Central Florida, in Orlando, Fla., Friday, April 26, 2024. A crowd estimated at about 200 rallied and marched on campus in opposition to Israel's response in the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
People take part in a pro-Palestinian protest on Penn's campus in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Signs are displayed outside a tent encampment at Northwestern University on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Evanston, Illinois. Students want the university to divest from funds connected to Israel or that profit from its war in Gaza. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)
People gather for the "Solidarity Jummah" outside the Columbia University, Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
George Washington University students pray on the street after police close the students plaza during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Students protesting against the war in Gaza, and passersby walking through Harvard Yard, are seen at an encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Israel supporters show up at George Washington University where students protest, during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate outside the main gate at Columbia University, in New York, early Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Morrison)
Qais Dana protests as a person puts a scarf on a Ben Franklin statue on Penn's campus during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Members of negotiation team speak during a press conference near pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment at the Columbia University, Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment is seen at the Columbia University, Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
George Washington University police officer scan the area as students demonstrate on campus during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Early Saturday, police in riot gear cleared an encampment on the campus of Northeastern University in Boston. Massachusetts State Police said about 102 protesters were arrested and will be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct. Protesters said they were given about 15 minutes to disperse before being arrested.
As workers pulled down tents and bagged up the debris from the encampment, several dozen people across from the encampment chanted, “Let the Kids Go," and slogans against the war in Gaza. They also booed as police cars passed and taunted the officers who stood guard over the encampment.
The school said in a statement that the demonstration, which began two days ago, had become “infiltrated by professional organizers” with no affiliation to the school and antisemitic slurs, including “kill the Jews,” had been used.
“We cannot tolerate this kind of hate on our campus,” the statement posted on the social media platform X said.
The Huskies for a Free Palestine student group disputed the university’s account, saying in a statement that counterprotesters were to blame for the slurs and no student protesters “repeated the disgusting hate speech.”
Students at the protest said a counterprotester attempted to instigate hate speech but insisted their event was peaceful and, like many across the country, was aimed at drawing attention to what they described as the “genocide” in Gaza and their university’s complicity in the war.
The president of nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology put out a statement Saturday saying the encampment there had become a “potential magnet for disruptive outside protesters” and was taking hundreds of staff hours to keep safe.
“We have a responsibility to the entire MIT community — and it is not possible to safely sustain this level of effort,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said. “We are open to further discussion about the means of ending the encampment. But this particular form of expression needs to end soon.”
Indiana University campus officers and state police arrested 23 people Saturday at an encampment on the school’s Bloomington campus. Tents and canopies had been erected Friday night at Dunn Meadow in violation of school policy, university police said in a release. Members of the group were detained after refusing to remove the structures, police said. Charges ranged from criminal trespass to resisting law enforcement.
At the University of Pennsylvania on Friday, interim President J. Larry Jameson called for an encampment of protesters on the west Philadelphia campus to be disbanded, saying it violates the university’s facilities policies, though about 40 tents remained in place Saturday morning.
The "harassing and intimidating comments and actions” by some protesters violate the school’s open expression guidelines as well as state and federal law, Jameson said, and vandalism of a statue with antisemitic graffiti was “especially reprehensible and will be investigated as a hate crime.”
A faculty group said Saturday that it was “deeply disturbed” by the university president’s email, saying it included “unsubstantiated allegations” that “have been disputed to us by faculty and students who have attended and observed the demonstration.”
The university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors said Jameson's statement “mischaracterizes the overall nature of an antiwar protest that necessarily involves strong emotions on both sides but has not, to our knowledge, involved any actual violence or threats of violence to individuals on our campus."
Campus protests began after Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel, when militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. During the ensuing war, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.
Israel and its supporters have branded the protests as antisemitic, while critics of Israel say it uses such allegations to silence opponents. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.
At Columbia University, where protesters have inspired pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country, students representing the encampment said Friday that they reached an impasse with administrators and intended to continue their protest.
Though the university has repeatedly set and then pushed back deadlines for the removal of the encampment, the school sent an email to students Friday night saying that bringing back police “at this time” would be counterproductive.
Decisions to call in law enforcement, leading to hundreds of arrests nationwide, have prompted school faculty members at universities in California, Georgia and Texas to initiate or pass votes of no confidence in their leadership. They are largely symbolic rebukes, without the power to remove their presidents.
But the tensions pile pressure on school officials, who are already scrambling to resolve the protests as May graduation ceremonies near.
The University of Southern California drew criticism after refusing to allow the valedictorian, who has publicly supported Palestinians, to make a commencement speech. Administrators then scrapped the keynote speech by filmmaker Jon M. Chu. The school announced the cancellation of its main graduation event Thursday, a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested by police in riot gear.
USC President Carol Folt made her first public statement late Friday addressing the controversies as “incredibly difficult for all of us.”
“No one wants to have people arrested on their campus. Ever. But, when long-standing safety policies are flagrantly violated, buildings vandalized, Department of Public Safety directives repeatedly ignored, threatening language shouted, people assaulted, and access to critical academic buildings blocked, we must act immediately to protect our community,” Folt said.
Arizona State University said 69 people were arrested early Saturday on suspicion of criminal trespassing for setting up an unauthorized encampment on a lawn on its Tempe campus. The protesters were given chances to leave, and those who refused were arrested.
“While the university will continue to be an environment that embraces freedom of speech, ASU’s first priority is to create a safe and secure environment that supports teaching and learning,” the university said in a statement.
Perry reported from Meredith, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists in various locations contributed, including Jacques Billeaud, Aaron Morrison, Stefanie Dazio, Kathy McCormack, Jim Vertuno, Acacia Coronado, Sudhin Thanawala, Jeff Amy, Jeff Martin, Mike Stewart, Collin Binkley, Carolyn Thompson, Jake Offenhartz, Jesse Bedayn and Sophia Tareen.
Students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Protesters confront police at Northeastern University in Boston on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Officers arrested about 100 people on Saturday morning as demonstrators locked arms and chanted slogans. The encampment at Northeastern was one of several that demonstrators set up at universities in the Boston area this week. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via AP)
FILE - A University of Southern California protester is detained by USC Department of Public Safety officers during a pro-Palestinian occupation at the campus' Alumni Park, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
FILE - University of Southern California protesters carry a tent around Alumni Park on the University of Southern California to keep security from removing it during a pro-Palestinian occupation, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
FILE - A University of Southern California protester, right, confronts a University Public Safety officer at the campus' Alumni Park during a pro-Palestinian occupation, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
FILE - New York Police Department officers from the Strategic Response Group form a wall of protection around Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters Michael Gerber and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kay Daughtry, not shown, during a news conference regarding the ongoing pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Columbia University in New York, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, File)
A Pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment is seen at the Columbia University, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
FILE - A sign that reads, "Gaza Solidarity Encampment," is seen during the pro-Palestinian protest at the Columbia University campus in New York, Monday April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, File)
Northeastern University police remove and arrest protesters one by one as they sit in zip tie handcuffs at the tent encampment on campus in Boston, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Dozens of NU students and other protesters who set up tents with them on the NU campus were arrested by state, Boston and NU police. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters camp out in tents at Columbia University on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in New York.(AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
George Washington University students, who declined to provide their names, hug during a protest of the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. The student at left is inside the fence of the school's University Yard, unable to leave because he would not be allowed back in. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University sit in a tent to avoid the rain in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A Pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment is seen at the Columbia University, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A George Washington University student, who declined to give her name, works on a school assignment while joining other students in protesting the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
George Washington University students protest the Israel-Hamas war at the university in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Pro-Palestinian protesters camp out in tents at Columbia University on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in New York. With the death toll mounting in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus. (AP Photo)
The Palestinian flag is flown during a protest of the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Pro-Palestinian protesters camp out in tents at Columbia University on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in New York. With the death toll mounting in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus. (AP Photo)
Pro-Palestinian protesters camp out in tents at Columbia University on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in New York. With the death toll mounting in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus. (AP Photo)
Police clear an encampment on the Northeastern University campus in Boston, early Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
A chalk statement is seen on the road leading to the George Washington University Yard as students protest the Israel-Hamas war, in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A George Washington University police officer stands watch in the schools University Yard which has been closed as students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A George Washington University police officer stands near the statue of George Washington in the University Yard as student protest the Israel-Hamas war, at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A statue of George Washington draped in a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh is seen at George Washington University as students demonstrate on campus during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Israel supporters conter-protest outside a makeshift camp with a Pro-Palestinian theme staged on the UCLA campus, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities across the country are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A group of pro-Israel supporters hold arms as they sing and dance outside a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Friday, April 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities across the country are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A UCLA student poses for graduation pictures outside Royce Hall across a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Friday, April 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
UCLA campus police cycle around the perimeter of a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Friday, April 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities across the country are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Pro-Palestinian supporters hold up a sign and flag inside an encampment on the UCLA campus Friday, April 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities across the country are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Students protesting against the war in Gaza stand next to a Palestinian flag and tents at an encampment in Harvard Yard, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
George Washington University police close the student encampment as students protest on the street during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
George Washington University police close a student encampment as students demonstrate during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment is seen at the Columbia University, Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
People prepare to camp out for the night during a pro-Palestinian protest at the College Green in the heart of the University of Pennsylvania campus in the in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Demonstrators gather on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, Thursday, April 25, 2024, to protest the war in Gaza, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
People lock arms during a Pro-Palestinian protest on Penn's campus in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Pro-Israel demonstrators chant during the "Bring Them Home Now" rally outside the Columbia University , Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Pro-Israeli demonstrators gather near a Pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Counter-demonstrators supporting Israel march near a Pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Central Florida, in Orlando, Fla., Friday, April 26, 2024. Pro-Palestine protesters were estimated at about 200, with the Israel group being less than a dozen. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
Students protesting against the war in Gaza, and passersby walking through Harvard Yard, are seen next to the statue of John Harvard, the first major benefactor of Harvard College, draped in the Palestinian flag, at an encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Pro-Palestinian protesters cheer while listening to speaker Maryam Imam during a demonstration in support of Palestine at the University of Central Florida, in Orlando, Fla., Friday, April 26, 2024. A crowd estimated at about 200 rallied and marched on campus in opposition to Israel's response in the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
People take part in a pro-Palestinian protest on Penn's campus in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Signs are displayed outside a tent encampment at Northwestern University on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Evanston, Illinois. Students want the university to divest from funds connected to Israel or that profit from its war in Gaza. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)
People gather for the "Solidarity Jummah" outside the Columbia University, Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
George Washington University students pray on the street after police close the students plaza during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Students protesting against the war in Gaza, and passersby walking through Harvard Yard, are seen at an encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Israel supporters show up at George Washington University where students protest, during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate outside the main gate at Columbia University, in New York, early Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Morrison)
Qais Dana protests as a person puts a scarf on a Ben Franklin statue on Penn's campus during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Members of negotiation team speak during a press conference near pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment at the Columbia University, Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment is seen at the Columbia University, Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
George Washington University police officer scan the area as students demonstrate on campus during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
