Student protests over Israel-Hamas war roil US campuses ahead of graduations

Student protests over Israel-Hamas war roil US campuses ahead of graduations
Los Angeles: Colleges around the country implored pro-Palestinian student protesters to clear out tent encampments with rising levels of urgency Monday as classes wrap up for the semester and campuses prepare for graduation ceremonies.

Students and others have been sparing over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll. Many students are demanding their universities cut financial ties with Israel.

Protests were still active at a number of campuses. Near George Washington University, protesters at an encampment breached and dismantled the barriers Monday morning used to secure University Yard, the university said in a statement. The yard had been closed since last week.

At Columbia University, the site of the first protests, dialogue since last week between academic leaders and student organisers to dismantle encampments has not progressed, the university president said Monday. Protesters at Yale University set up a new encampment with dozens of tents Sunday afternoon, nearly a week after police arrested nearly 50 demonstrators and cleared a similar camp.

At least one school, the University of Southern California, cancelled its main graduation ceremony this spring. Others are asking the protests to resolve peacefully so they can hold their ceremonies.

Protesters on both sides of the rancorous debate shouted and shoved each other during duelling demonstrations Sunday at the University of California, Los Angeles. The university stepped up security after “some physical altercations broke out among demonstrators,” Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a statement. There were no reports of arrests or injuries.

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