The police moved in today Saturday in additions of about 100 people of pro-Palestinian protesters at Northeastern University in Boston in response to the use of anti-Semitic slurs, the educational institution announced.

The arrests came as some protesters “crossed the line” and began chanting slogans such as “Kill the Jews,” the university said in a statement on the X platform.

Demonstrations against Israel’s war against Hamas began earlier this month at Columbia University in the US and spread to college campuses across the country.

They pose a serious challenge to US university administrations trying to balance the institutions’ commitment to free speech with complaints that the protests have crossed the line.

Northeastern said in a statement that campus police assisted by local law enforcement responded today to break up an “unauthorized occupation” on campus.

The university announced that those who refused to show student ID were arrested.

Moqtada Sadr supports pro-Palestinian protests in the US

Iraqi religious leader Moqtada Sadr today expressed his support for pro-Palestinian protests at US universities and called for an end to police actions against them.

“We are calling for an end to the silencing of voices who ask for freedom and peace. The voice of American universities demanding an end to Zionist terrorism is our voice,” Sadr said in a statement.

Sadr previously led militias that fought against US forces following the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. It has millions of followers among the country’s predominantly Shiite Muslim population and wields great influence over Iraqi politics.