US Universities Face Escalating 'Pro-Palestine Protests'... Netanyahu Calls It "Anti-Semitic Riots"

Protests Centered in Eastern Ivy League Spread to Midwest and West
University of Texas Deploys Police Mounted Units
US House Speaker Demands Resignation of Columbia University President

Pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, which initially ignited in the U.S. East Coast, are spreading across the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized these protests as "anti-Semitic riots that must be stopped."

According to local media including the Associated Press on the 24th (local time), the campus protests that started last week centered around Columbia University in New York have intensified as they spread beyond the East Coast to universities in the Midwest and West. Protesters are criticizing the U.S. for supplying weapons to Israel and are calling for a halt to the Gaza Strip war.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, as protests at Columbia University have continued for eight days, conflicts between protesters and the university administration attempting to disperse them have escalated. The school issued a final ultimatum the previous day to dismantle tents and disperse by midnight, but students have refused. Earlier, on the 18th, police arrested over 100 protesters following a report by Columbia University President Nemath Shafik, which appears to have fueled backlash.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson visited Columbia University that day and held a press conference demanding President Shafik's resignation. Johnson said, "We must stop this kind of hatred and anti-Semitism from flourishing on campus," adding, "I stand here to urge President Shafik to resign if she does not immediately resolve this chaos."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the University of Texas at Austin, located in the southern U.S., police equipped with riot gear including mounted units arrived on campus shortly after student protests began and dispersed the protesters. Physical clashes occurred between protesters and police, and many students were reportedly arrested.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, posted a video containing this information on X (formerly Twitter) that day, stating, "Arrests are ongoing and will continue until the crowd disperses," and criticized, "Students participating in hate-filled anti-Semitic protests at all public universities in Texas must be expelled."

In the western U.S., 30 protest tents had been set up at UC Berkeley by the previous day. On the same day, at the University of Southern California (USC), students began camping out in tents and staging sit-ins, leading to disturbances as campus security tried to intervene. When police attempted to arrest one protester, the crowd surrounded the police car demanding the release of the student, eventually resulting in the police freeing the individual.

As protests on U.S. college campuses intensify, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced condemnation. In a video message that day, Netanyahu called the anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests spreading on American campuses "anti-Semitic riots," lamenting, "Anti-Semitic rioters are taking over major U.S. universities, calling for Israel's destruction and attacking Jewish students." He added, "This situation is reminiscent of what happened at German universities in the 1930s," and condemned, "It must stop immediately."