Australian students have joined a pro-Palestinian campus encampment protest that has swept through universities in the United States, where it has led to nearly 1,000 arrests, dozens of suspensions and cancelled classes.
The protests over the Israel-Gaza warexpanded to an increasing number of US colleges over the weekend, with about275 people arrested on Saturday at protests at Indiana University, Arizona State University and Washington University, AP reported.
On Tuesday, hundreds of police officers descended upon Columbia University, where the protests first began, to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment and end the occupation of an administration building by protesters.
Police wearing helmets and carrying zip ties and riot shields massed at the university, took multiple protesters into custody and removed others on buses.
The pro-Palestine encampment protests have been called the most significant student movement since anti-Vietnam protests more than 50 years ago.
Here's how the movement unfolded and made its way to Australia.
Columbia mass arrests flame movement
On April 17, a small group of students set up tents at Columbia University in New York to protest against Israel's military action in Gaza and to ask the university to cut ties with companies that profit from Israel's incursion.
They also called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US military assistance for Israel.
The protests began spreading nationwide after the mass arrest of more than 100 protesters on the following day.
Columbia University president Nemat Minouche Shafik authorised New York Police to clear the student encampment "out of an abundance of concern" for safety on campus.
The arrests only fanned the flames, with protesters setting up another, bigger encampment the next day.
The mass arrest was the firston Columbia's campus since Vietnam War protests.The encampment was organised by a student-led coalition of groups, including Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
The university began suspending pro-Palestinian activistsafter they refused to leave the campus. Ms Shafik said on Monday that days of negotiations between student organisers and academic leaders had failed.
Hundreds of police officers swept into the university on Tuesday night to end the 12-hour occupation of an administration building and to sweep away the protest encampment, acting after the school's president said there was no other way to ensure safety and restore order on campus.
Protests spread across the US
Since the first mass arrest at Columbia, protests emulating the encampment there have emerged at campuses across the US to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, leading to hundreds more arrests.
Over last weekend, police in riot gear arrested about 102 protesters at Northeastern University in Massachusetts.
They will be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, Massachusetts State Police said. About 100 people were detained but students who produced a valid ID were released.
Northeastern said in a statement that the demonstration had become "infiltrated by professional organisers" with no affiliation to the university and anti-Semitic slurs, including "kill the Jews", had been used.
"We cannot tolerate this kind of hate on our campus," the statement posted on social media said.
Police clashed with protesters at Ohio State University in Columbus on Thursday evening, with those who refused to leave after warnings arrested and charged with criminal trespass, university spokesperson Benjamin Johnson said.
Of 36 people arrested, 16 were students and 20 were not affiliated with the university, he said.
More than 90 people were arrested on Wednesday night at the University of Southern California on charges of trespassing during a protest, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
The university said it had temporarily closed its campus for non-residents and a graduation ceremony set for May 10 was cancelled due to the protests.
At New York University, 133 protesters were taken into police custody for disorderly conduct.
At Emory University in Atlanta, 28 people were arrested, out of which 20 were "Emory community members", according to school officials.
University police said 34 people were arrested including on charges of trespassing, resisting law enforcement and battery on a public safety official at Indiana University Bloomington.
Arizona State University said 69 people were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of criminal trespassing.
An attorney said at least 40 demonstrators were arrested at the University of Texas at Austin on Monday.
Encampments have also been set up at George Washington University, California State Polytechnic,University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Florida.
Opposing protesters clash at UCLA
Police have been deployed in force on the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) campus after pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters clashed in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Witness footage from the scene, verified by Reuters, showed people wielding sticks or poles to attack wooden boards being held up as a makeshift barricade to protect the pro-Palestinian protesters, some of whom held placards or umbrellas.
Footage from the early hours showed mostly masked counter-demonstrators throwing objects and trying to smash or pull down the wooden and steel barriers erected to shield the encampment as pro-Palestinian protesters tried to fight them off.
Demonstrators on both sides sprayed each other with liquids and fights broke out.
The Los Angeles Police Department said it had responded to a request from UCLA to restore order and maintain public safety "due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus".
Broadcast footage later showed a police cordon clearing a central quad beside the encampment. By 5am (10pm AEST) they had erected a metal crowd barrier in front of the encampment and the area was quiet.
Los Angeles Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, whose district includes UCLA, posted on X: "Everyone has a right to free speech and protest, but the situation on UCLA's campus is out of control and is no longer safe."
Sydney University students set up camp
Starting last week, Australian university students have set up their own campus encampments.
Several hundred protesters at an encampment on the grounds of Sydney University asked the institution to cut ties with weapons companies and Israeli universities.
Rally organiser Shovan Bhattarai told the ABC the protesters had been inspired by the encampment demonstrations at Columbia.
"All of us were very much glued to our Twitter feeds as soon as the Columbia University students started their protesting encampment," Ms Bhattarai said.
She said the group had been in contact with students at New York University and would connect with students at a university in France to discuss their demonstrations.
Ms Bhattarai said there'd been an outpouring of community support with people coming to drop off food and pitching tents to join.
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Student Representative Council president Harrison Brennan said the protesters at the University of Sydney were demanding "tangible action".
They want their institution to cut ties with French-owned defence manufacturer Thales as well as Israeli universities.
Sydney University has a research partnership with Thales Australia.
"There's graduation ceremonies [being held] and the university cares very much about their ceremonies. This [action] is to force them to divest," Mr Brennan said.
"By prolonging this and keeping this disruption ongoing, we do cause a bit of a pain in the neck of University of Sydney management."
Mr Brennan said the group is supported by the Jewish anti-Zionist Tzedek Collective.
The group, which has camped out for more than a week, said it was determined to remain until the university catered to the demands.
The University of Sydney said it was aware of "a gathering" on campus and was monitoring the situation.
"While we remain absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom during this troubling time, we have zero tolerance for any form of racism, threats to safety, hate speech, intimidation, threatening speech, bullying or unlawful harassment, including anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim language or behaviour," the university said in a statement to the ABC.
A similar encampment was also set up on the campus of the University of Melbourne.
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"Columbia first, unimelb next, all universities must divest," the Unimelb for Palestine group said on X.
A small group of students was "exercising their right to peaceful protest" at the encampment "without incident", the University of Melbourne said in a statement to the ABC.
"Freedom of speech is respected and supported at the University of Melbourne and is central to our values and identity. The University welcomes debate and peaceful protest on campus, provided it does not extend to violence, threat or intimidation", the statement read.
"The University of Melbourne deplores and actively stands against all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia."
Jewish students feel 'isolated and intimidated'
Jewish students at Australian universities were feeling "isolated and intimidated" by the encampments, Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) said.
"These encampments are in 'solidarity' with anti-Semitic events like those at Columbia University in the United States, which has become a breeding ground for anti-Semitism, celebrating the tragic events of [the Hamas attack on Israel on] October 7th and actively excluding Jewish students from campus spaces," AUJS president Noah Loven said in a statement to the ABC.
"We know if Jewish students are unsafe at university, then no student on campus is safe," Mr Loven said.
He urged federal and state education ministers, as well as university vice-chancellors, to safeguard all students and staff.
"We also must see universities ensure that non-student external actors who join the encampments and inflame tensions on campus who espouse hate have no place on campus and do not hijack our campus spaces," he said.
ABC/wires
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