Rocky Mountain PBS: Nationwide protests against U.S. involvement in the Israel-Hamas war saw a change in tactic April 17 when students at Columbia University set up a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on their school campus. More than 100 Students called for the university to divest from weapons manufacturers and tech companies with business ties to Israel, who they accused of committing a genocide against Palestinians.
What followed were two weeks of mass arrests at the New York City school as hundreds of similar university encampments appeared around the country, including at Auraria Campus in Denver and Colorado College in Colorado Springs.
The protests brought up questions about First Amendment rights on private and public university campuses as well as what steps schools can take to curb what they deem hate speech. For example, in a statement explaining that Columbia University would not divest from Israel, President Minouche Shafik said, “Antisemitic language and actions are unacceptable and calls for violence are simply abhorrent.”
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