Pro-Hamas Students' Protests In US: Dramatic Scenes Unfold On University Campuses As Hundreds Arrested By Police Clad In Riot Gear

Over the past week, dozens of colleges and universities in the US have witnessed pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas demonstrators occupying campus lawns, some evolving into round-the-clock encampments.

The protests began earlier this month over Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, which started after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7 last year, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,200 people and the capture of over 200 others as hostages.

However, in recent days, the protests have intensified, with more radical elements within the left-wing ecosystem hijacking the movement. Many demonstrators, who are overwhelmingly university students, have used anti-Jewish and anti-Israel slurs during these protests.

Jewish students attending these universities have been on the receiving end of threats of violence from those who attend classes alongside them. And if this wasn't enough, some protesters have also expressed sympathy for Hamas, which controlled Gaza before the war and has declared the annihilation of Israel as its goal.

For instance, at the anti-Israel protesters near Columbia University, which has been at the centre of the controversy, demonstrators were heard raising pro-Hamas slogans.

"We are Hamas!" a protester was heard saying. When asked to clarify, she answered, "We are all Hamas, pig!" Another person said, "Long live Hamas!"

Instances like these have forced mostly left-leaning institutions to act against these protests, something which university administrations across the US had kept delaying so far on the pretext of freedom of speech. With protesters crossing the line into anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas territory, the liberal administrations of most of these universities have lost the excuse they have been using so far to resist acting against the protesters.

Amid the crackdown that has followed, over 500 protesters have been arrested across the country. Riot-clad troopers were seen on the campus of various universities, clearing up encampments set up by protesters and arresting those refusing to move. Police action also led to a stand-off on multiple campuses, forcing police to use riot gear.

As dramatic scenes unfold on these campuses, US President Joe Biden has been forced to walk a tightrope. Like university administrations, he has had to condemn the anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas stance taken by protesters. But with elections just months away, he has been trying to keep the increasingly far-left Democrats happy by condemning 'those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians' in the same vein.

Recent polling shows that Biden is trailing Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump in at least six of the seven swing states which will decide who wins the elections this November.

While Trump is currently sitting in a New York court room for a trial presided over by Democrat-leaning judges, Biden holds rallies in these swing states.

While troubles at home are mounting, Biden is also facing pressure from outside to rein in the anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas protesters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that protests in US' universities against Israel’s war in Gaza were "horrific" and should be halted. India, too, has taken a swipe at the US, saying, "We are all judged by what we do at home and not what we say abroad."