Police crackdowns on U.S student protests, which call for an end to Israel's siege of Gaza, harm the international image of the country and contradict the values that Americans hold dear, said a professor at the University of Maryland, where students have staged sit-ins.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have recently erupted on campuses across the U.S., calling for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and cessation of U.S. military aid to Israel. Many student-led protests have demanded universities to divest from Israel-linked interests.
Hundreds of demonstrators at Columbia University were arrested on April 18, and police arrested more than 100 demonstrators at New York University and Yale University four days later.
Sahar Khamis, an associate professor of communication at the University of Maryland, said universities have the responsibility to facilitate peaceful protests while ensuring all voices are heard.
"It's always important to strike this delicate balance between freedom of speech and freedom of expression and academic freedom, which have always been very important beacons and important backbones of American democracy. America has always been talking about these important principles being the foundations and the basis of its own system. So in order to crack down on peaceful protesters on campuses, that's completely against these important values and does do a lot of harm actually to the image of the United States nationally and internationally," she said.
"Universities really have this responsibility to strike this delicate balance between giving its own students the space and the place to have peaceful protests, and to make sure their voices and concerns are heard. And of course, making sure that there is no hateful actions or violence of any sort because it's important not to inflict any kind of harm on anyone, even if they hold a different position or a different stance," the professor added.
Khamis noted that arrests appear to be ineffective at quelling the protests, instead having the opposite effect.
"As I said, I'm proud of my own university for being able to strike this very important and sensitive balance. Unfortunately, things have gone out of hand in other campuses, especially as we have seen in Columbia University and how the use of violence and, you know, arrests of students and suspensions and all of that led to a backfiring and counter effect which led to triggering even more student protests worldwide," she said.
The professor noted that the protests are a clear reproval of U.S. President Joe Biden's handling of the Gaza conflict and might impact his electoral prospects this year.
"On the broader political scheme, it's a very, very important point, we are coming closer and closer to the November 2024 presidential election, and let me remind you that these demonstrations and protests are now only very few blocks away from the White House. You are hearing these chants not just in support of Palestine and solidarity with the Palestinians, but also against the Biden administration's handling of the Gaza crisis and its own course of action. And of course here the bigger question becomes, how could these protests and demonstrations impact the image of Biden and his own government as well as his chances of winning a second term in the White House," she said.
US professor calls on universities to strike careful balance amid campus protests
