The police yesterday Monday arrested dozens of people in pro-Palestinian demonstrations held at Yale University in Connecticut and New York University (NYU) in Manhattan, as tensions on American campuses escalate over the war in Gaza, with protesters saying they are fighting for free speech against the right-wing accused of anti-Semitism.

The police intervention took place after Columbia University canceled live classes yesterday Mondayreacting to protesters setting up tents on campus in New York last week.

Protesters block traffic around Yale campus in New Haven, Connecticutasking the university to divest from military weapons manufacturers.

Law enforcement arrested more than 45 protestersaccording to the student media outlet Yale Daily News.

In New York the police lashed out against NYU students shortly after dark and while hundreds of protesters defied for hours the university’s warnings that they would face sanctions if they did not leave the square where they had gathered.

Videos posted on social media showed policemen destroying the tents set up by the protesters, who were shouting: “We will not stop, we will not be quiet. Reveal, disinvest”.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said that arrests were made, after the university asked the forces of order to remove the squatters from the square. At present, the number of those arrested is not known.

In an email to Columbia staff and students, university president Nemat Minous Shafik said Monday that live classes are being suspended in an effort to “de-escalate” the situation and so that “we all have an opportunity to consider next steps.” “.

Last week Shafiq had asked the police to remove the tents that had been set up on the lawn outside Columbia’s main building by protesters demanding that the university not invest in Israeli companies.

More than 100 students were arrested then, while Columbia has expelled dozens of students who participated in the protests.

“We will stay here until they talk to us and listen to our requests”said yesterday Mimi Elias, a student who was among those arrested and who has been expelled from the university.

“99% of the people here are in favor of the liberation of Palestine,” he added. “We are not in favor of anti-Semitism, nor in favor of Islamophobia. We want the liberation of the whole world”, he stressed.

From her side Shafiq alleged that “this tension was exploited and exacerbated by people who have no connection to Columbia who came to the campus to serve personal purposes”.

Last week the president of the university testified before a committee of the House of Representativesdefending the administration’s response to the protesters’ alleged anti-Semitism.

Republicans in the House and Senate, but also a Democratic senator have demanded the resignation of Shafiq.

Donor threats

Robert Kraft, a major donor to the university, also expressed her his displeasure at Columbia’s lack of protection for Jewish students.

Kraft, who is Jewish, has donated millions of dollars to the university and threatened to cut off funding, saying in a statement that he “doesn’t feel comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken.”

More than 100 Columbia staff members joined the students yesterday.

For his part, the American president Joe Bidenwhich protesters criticize for providing funding and weapons to Israel, said in a statement on Sunday that the government is doing everything it can to protect the Jewish community.

“Even in the last few days we have seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews”complained o Biden. “This blatant anti-Semitism is reprehensible and dangerous and has absolutely no place in universities or anywhere else in our country,” he added.

Students organizing the protest in Columbia criticized Biden’s announcementpointing out that some of the participants are Jewish and complaining that the media has focused on “extreme people who don’t represent us.”

“We unequivocally reject any form of hatred or intolerance and treat with caution non-students who try to disrupt the solidarity formed between students – Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs, Jews, blacks and pro-Palestinians,” they underlined in their statement.

American universities have been theaters of tension since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Complaining about incidents of anti-Semitism, Republicans took up the issue in the fall by calling the presidents of the universities of Pennsylvania, Harvard and MIT to a congressional hearing. The first two subsequently resigned.

The chancellor of Columbia, during her hearing last week in Congress, assured that “anti-Semitism has no place at our university”, which, however, did not prevent Republican parliamentarians from calling for her resignation, citing “anarchy”.