University of Arizona Thwarts Pro-Palestinian Protesters’ Attempt to Seize Graduation Venue

Police using tear gas and rubber bullets while being pelted with bottles and rocks arrested an unspecified number of pro-Palestinian activists early on May 10 at the University of Arizona in Tucson less than 24 hours before the school stages its commencement exercise, kicking off another day of confrontations on campuses across the United States.

In a late-night statement on May 9, the University of Arizona Police Department warned protesters that “a structure made from wooden pallets and other debris was erected on campus property after 5 p.m. “in violation of the university’s policy prohibiting temporary structures.

“University officials issued warnings to remove the encampment and disperse. The warnings were ignored,” the UAPD said.

About four hours later officers moved into the encampment in the predawn amid a shower of rocks and bottles, detaining dozens according to local media reports.

“University officials have taken action to ensure the safety of Centennial Hall convocation attendees,” UA said in a statement.

“Those who have violated the law are subject to arrest and prosecution,” although by early afternoon EST, no specific number of arrests had been announced.

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Also early May 10, police in Boston dismantled an encampment and arrested 10 people at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), while Philadelphia police jailed at least 33 while tearing down an encampment at the University of Pennsylvania.

As of May 10, nearly 2,800 people have been arrested on more than 63 university and college campuses in at least 22 states since the April 18 arrests of 108 Columbia University students on their Morningside campus in Manhattan, New York City, according to tallies by the Associated Press and reporters for The Epoch Times.

Pro-Palestinian groups demanding an end to the war in Gaza and divestment from Israel have embroiled at least 80 universities and colleges across more than 30 states in the largest groundswell of campus unrest since the 1980s anti-apartheid and 1960s and 1970s Vietnam War protests.

Through SJP’s influence, protests now reflect the same orchestrated tactics, anti-Semitic hate speech, theatrical demonstrations, “apartheid walls” around “refugee camps”—the encampments—mock Israeli checkpoints, and red-paint “blood” dousing on campuses across the country.

The group claims on its website its members are engaged in protests on 200 campuses nationwide. “We will not rest till our universities divest,” it said in an April 21 statement signed by 98 campus chapters.

SJP and other organizations circulate manuals and other materials to guide protesters.

“Each de-arrest is a micro-Intifada which can spread and inspire others until we may finally shake off this noxious ruling order altogether,” the manual states.

SJP was established in the early 1990s at the University of California in Berkeley where co-founder Dr. Hatem Bazian was a student. He is now a UC lecturer and chair of Virginia-based  American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).

The Anti-Defamation League and the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law have accused SJP of “celebrating terrorism.”

A 2016 report from the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis said the establishment of a new SJP chapter on a college campus is “one of the strongest predictors of perceiving a hostile climate toward Israel and Jews” and usually repulses general student bodies on most campuses, earning it a ubiquitous derisive nickname—“Students for Just Us in Palestine.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on May 9 reiterated his call for the Biden administration to probe who and what is funding the student groups in the wake of allegations by New York City Mayor Eric Adams and others that demonstrations are being exploited by “outside agitators.”

“In university after university, anti-Semitic radicals have taken over entire buildings and large tracts of outdoor space. They are vandalizing property, blocking students from moving around their own campuses, and terrorizing Jewish students,” he wrote.

“Crucially, this is not just spontaneous student unrest. It is coordinated and funded by a powerful network of anti-Israel advocates.”

House Republicans have been looking into advocacy groups’ links with student organizations since the fall.

He noted AMP was founded and is led by Mr. Bazian, “who also founded Students for Justice in Palestine, which is unquestionably one of the most vitriolic anti-Israel voices on campus.”

Regardless of how the Biden administration reacts, the Republican-led House will continue oversight hearings into alleged financial links between campus groups and terrorist organizations and the surge of anti-Semitism in colleges in the coming weeks and into the summer.

‘We’ll Be Back’

Amid nearby demonstrations and vows by some protesters to disrupt commencements, graduation ceremonies are underway on May 10 at universities and colleges across the United States

Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City, where nearly 220 have been arrested in protests since April 18, canceled its May 17 school-wide commencement and began a weeklong series of college-by-college graduations on May 10.

The University of Southern California (USC), another major university forced to cancel its school-wide commencement for school-specific graduations, is also staging smaller graduations beginning on May 10 on a campus where 93 have been arrested.

Yale, the University of Miami, Western Illinois. Carnegie Mellon, Xavier, Loyola as well as Connecticut, Louisiana, and  Arizona’s state system universities and colleges are among those staging commencements this weekend.

The 2024 spring semester commencement cycle began last week in earnest with ceremonies at two of the nation’s largest and most prominent state universities, the University of Michigan and Ohio State University, and the Florida state university system.

Despite students waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Israel bombs, U of M pays, how many kids have you killed today?” during University of Michigan ceremonies in Ann Arbor, ceremonies proceeded unhindered.

And, as the continuing crackdowns on encampments indicate, university administrators and local government officials are wearying of the upheaval, especially those imperiling graduations and other school functions.

Philadelphia police and University of Pennsylvania police moved in on the pro-Palestinian encampment on Penn’s College Green at 6 a.m. on May 10, arresting 33 who had defied calls to disassemble and depart for 16 days.

“Penn Police warns those in the College Green Encampment to disperse immediately. If you do not take your belongings and leave within two minutes, you will be considered a defiant trespasser and will be arrested. If you leave now, you will not be arrested,” Penn Public Safety said in an X post.

The action came less than 24 hours after Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro called on the university to disband the encampment with the school’s May 20 commencement nearing.

Pro-Palestinian protesters at MIT had been ordered since May 6 to disassemble and depart their encampment on Kresge Lawn.

At 4 a.m. (EST) Boston Police in riot gear entered the ad hoc ramshackle “refugee camp,” tore down tents, and tables, and threw everything in waiting trash trucks.

Ten were arrested—all students, including several grad students.

Authorizing police to move onto campus was a “last resort,” University President Sally Kornbluth said in a statement.

“I had no choice but to remove such a high-risk flashpoint at the very center of our campus.”

Although the encampment was gone, protesters returned shortly after.

“We’re going to be back because the student movement will not die,” a protester with a megaphone boomed. “We’ll be back. This is not the end.”