Citing security fears, the University of Southern California (USC) has canceled its May 10 graduation ceremony due to pro-Palestinian student protests.

In a statement, USC said it “will not be able to host the ceremony that normally draws 65,000 students, family members and friends.”

On Wednesday, police arrested at least 93 people on the campus and ordered the encampment of protesters to be broken up.

The situation at the university is tense after the cancellation of the ceremony.

At the same time, demonstrations are taking place on dozens of college campuses across the US.

In the Emory University of Atlanta, 28 protesters were arrested Thursday after refusing to leave. The protesters were forcibly removed by the police, who admitted to using chemicals against them.

In the Columbia Universityfrom where the protests started, the administration decided to extend the deadline it had given the students till midnight to end the ongoing sit-in on the campus.

Dozens of arrests were made there last week after university officials resorted to police to end a sit-in that was accused of inciting anti-Semitism. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations then continued on campus.

The pro-Palestinian student movement has spread to some of the world’s most prestigious universities, such as Harvard, Yale or Princeton.

More than 200 protesters were arrested the day before yesterday, Wednesday, and yesterday, Thursday, in universities of Los Angeles, Boston and Austin in Texaswhere about 2,000 people gathered again yesterday.

Similar scenes are unfolding across the country: students set up encampments on their university campuses to denounce US military support for Israel and the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip.

Then special police units expel them following relevant requests from the university managements.

In UCLA campus in Los Angelesmore than 200 students set up a small village with about thirty tents, fortified with pallets and banners.

Near the pro-Palestinian rally, about 30 students staged a counter-demonstration. Jasmine Rudd, a Jewish student at the University of Texas, believes that the demonstrations in support of Gaza are “dangerous for Jewish students”.

The White House assured for its part that Joe Biden, who hopes to be re-elected in November, “supports freedom of expression, dialogue and the absence of discrimination” at universities.