Nearly 200 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Saturday at three US universities as police cleared encampments, the latest episode in the student movement spreading across the US.

The movement in support of the Palestinians and against the war started ten days ago from Columbia University in New York and has spread to many others, from California to the Northwestern USA, passing through the central states and into the South.

Hundreds of protesters were arrested by the Boston University riot police unit.

The Northeastern University announced to X “the arrest of about 100 people by the police” specifying that “the students who showed their Northeastern U. cards were released (…) Those who refused were arrested.”

According to the university, “violent anti-Semitic slurs” such as “kill the Jews” were heard from the protesters, but calm was restored by mid-day.

An “illegal” encampment consisting of a few tents was broken up by university police and local law enforcement, as seen in photos posted on social media.

At the other end of the USA the forces of its university class Arizona (ASU) “arrested 69 people on Saturday after setting up camp without a permit,” its administration pointed out, complaining that “most were not ASU students or staff.”

In the central US, 23 people were arrested after police evacuated a camp at Indiana University.

Village of tents

Columbia Chancellor Minous Shafik announced that she will not ask the police to remove the “village” of tents that some 200 protesters have set up on campus.

However, an official of the pro-Palestinian movement was banned from the university after making anti-Zionist threats in a video dating back to January. The young man later apologized, according to CNN, which described the situation on the Columbia campus yesterday as “relatively calm.”

However, tensions remain high University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), whose chancellor was forced to resign over the winter after a congressional hearing found she was not doing enough to address anti-Semitism at the university.

After “reliable reports of incidents of harassment and intimidation,” the chancellor called for the immediate disbandment of the camp set up at UPenn.

In California the state campus Humboldt polytechnic will remain “closed” for the rest of the semester and classes will be held remotely due to the “occupation” of two buildings, according to a statement.

In neighboring Canada, a camp was set up for the first time at the university McGill in Montreal where the pro-Palestinian movement began in February. The university expressed concern about “the risk of escalation and confrontation”.

Riot police officers

Images of riot police arresting students at the request of university administrations have gone viral and are reminiscent of student protests against the Vietnam War.

The Gaza solidarity movement has become political seven months before the US presidential election, amid allegations of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism and the defense of freedom of expression.

The USA is home to the largest number of Jews in the world after Israel – about 6 million – and also millions of Americans of Arab origin or Muslims.

Throughout the week in the US, students and pro-Palestinian activists were arrested and usually released without charge.

At the rallies, left-wing and anti-Zionist Jewish students support the Palestinians, wearing the Palestinian headscarf and denouncing “the genocide” committed by Israel.

But other Jews express their concern and fear in the face of anti-Semitic slogans. Skyler Sirantzki, 21, a student at George Washington University was spat on when she appeared on campus holding an Israeli flag.