Students at the University of Texas at Austin joined a growing movement of college campus protests in solidarity with Palestine on Wednesday. According to the Texas Tribune, over 200 students participated in the demonstration, which involved a walkout of classes and plans for an occupation of the school’s administration building. Texas Department of Public Safety officers, assisted by horses and wearing riot gear, reportedly pushed protesters with batons and used physical force to disperse the crowd. CNN reported “physical clashes” between demonstrators and law enforcement, and the chant of “Free, free Palestine” erupted as organizers were detained.
The University of Texas protest was part of a broader wave of demonstrations on college campuses across the nation following the arrests of over 100 people during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Brooklyn last week. Similar protests have taken place at Columbia University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Southern California, and the University of Washington.
The protests have escalated in response to a financial aid package that includes $26 billion in aid to Israeli defenses and relief efforts in Gaza. The funding was approved by Congress in recent days before being signed by President Biden on Wednesday morning. The package also provides assistance to Ukrainian troops fighting off Russian invaders.
Israeli Defense Forces entered the Gaza Strip in early October after a series of rocket attacks by Hamas, the militant group that controls the territory. The Israeli counter-strike has resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 people, many of whom were women and children, according to local health officials.
Biden pushed for aid to reach the Middle East “immediately” after signing Wednesday’s $95 billion aid package.
School officials at the University of Texas reportedly sent notice to the Palestine Solidarity Committee Tuesday discouraging unauthorized demonstrations on school property. “Simply put, The University of Texas at Austin will not allow this campus to be ‘taken’ and protesters to derail our mission in ways that groups affiliated with your national organization have accomplished elsewhere,” the letter told organizers.
House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed activists at Columbia University to denounce antisemitism and demand the school’s leadership bring “order to this chaos.”
The protests have sparked debate about the role of universities in addressing social and political issues, with some critics arguing that the demonstrations are disruptive and counterproductive.
