Police in riot gear detained over 100 individuals as they dismantled a pro-Palestine encampment at a Boston university, the latest in a string of conflicts on US campuses sparked by rallies against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The measure was initiated after some demonstrators used “virulent anti-Semitic slurs, including ‘Kill the Jews,'” Northeastern University alleged in a statement on social networking platform X.
Police have made large-scale arrests at US universities in recent days, employing chemical irritants and tasers to disperse protests. Northeastern University said in a statement that campus police and local law enforcement moved in on Saturday to clear “an unauthorized encampment” on campus.
Tensions rose on Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania, where the college president ordered the immediate disbandment of a campus encampment following “credible reports of harassing and intimidating conduct.”
Meanwhile, Columbia University in New York, where the protests began, announced on Friday that it will not bring police back to campus after more than 100 individuals were arrested last week.
“To bring back the NYPD at this time would be counterproductive, further inflaming what is happening on campus, and drawing thousands to our doorstep who would threaten our community,” the school’s administration said in a statement, referring to the New York Police Department.
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