2025 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses
| 2025 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses | |
|---|---|
| Part of Gaza war protests | |
| Date | January 2025 – ongoing |
| Location | Global (primarily Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, UK, and US) |
| Caused by | Israeli invasion of Gaza, ongoing genocide of Palestinians, university ties with Israeli institutions and companies, opposition to Israeli military actions, calls for academic and financial divestment |
| Goals |
|
| Methods |
|
| Status | Ongoing |
The 2025 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses are a global wave of student- and staff-led demonstrations, encampments, and building occupations demanding that universities cut academic and financial ties with Israeli companies and universities complicit directly or indirectly in the Israeli military campaign in Gaza and the genocide of Palestinians. The protests, which escalated in April 2025, have involved hundreds of campuses across North America, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia, and are part of the broader Gaza war protests.[1][2][3]
Background
[edit]The campus protest movement began in the United States in April 2024, following mass arrests at Columbia University’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment, and quickly spread globally.[4] Inspired by the anti-apartheid and Vietnam War campus protests, students and faculty called for divestment, academic boycott, and institutional transparency regarding ties to Israel and military contractors. The movement intensified in 2025 after Israel’s offensive in Rafah and renewed violence in Gaza, as well as solidarity actions in response to police crackdowns on US campuses.[1][2]
Key universities involved
[edit]North America
[edit]In the United States, at Columbia University, there were renewed encampments and building occupations, including the occupation of Butler Library (“Basel Al-Araj Popular University”). There were mass arrests by the NYPD, over 100 students were suspended or barred from campus.[2] At University of Washington, protesters occupied an engineering building, demanding an end to ties with Boeing over its military contracts. More than 30 protestres were arrested after police intervention.[1][3]
In Canada, the Quebec Superior Court issued a 10-day injunction barring pro-Palestinian protesters at McGill University from obstructing campus access or disrupting academic activities, following a three-day student protest that included blockades and vandalism. The university, citing threats to safety and academic continuity, sought legal intervention amid calls for divestment from companies linked to Israel. It has also initiated steps to sever ties with the undergraduate student union over its alleged failure to distance itself from disruptive activism.[5]
Europe
[edit]In Germany, Berlin police cleared a protest in April 2025 at Humboldt University where 89 pro-Palestinian demonstrators had occupied a lecture hall to oppose the planned deportation of four international students accused of participating in violent protests. The police launched around 100 criminal investigations related to the occupation, citing vandalism, use of incendiary objects, and alleged extremist symbols. The university justified the police intervention partly due to banners denying Israel's right to exist, an issue sensitive in Germany due to its post-Holocaust commitment to supporting Israel.[6]
In the Netherlands there were occupations and encampments at the University of Amsterdam, Utrecht University, Radboud University and others. Several protests were met with police intervention, with students sustaining injuries.[7]
In the United Kingdom, members of Oxford Action for Palestine occupied the Radcliffe Camera, protesting the University of Oxford’s alleged complicity in Israeli military actions in Gaza and the West Bank and accusing the institution of cutting off dialogue. The university condemned the disruption, citing safety concerns, and stated it was working to remove the protesters, who had renamed the library after a Palestinian political figure linked to a group designated as a terrorist organization by several Western governments.[8]
Protesters' demands
[edit]Demands varied by country and campus, but commonly included:
- Divestment from Israel and companies supplying the Israeli military (e.g., Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Caterpillar Inc.)
- Severing academic and research ties with Israeli institutions
- Disclosure of financial and research partnerships
- Amnesty for suspended or arrested protesters
- Institutional support for Palestinian academic freedom and a ceasefire in Gaza[1][2][4]
Reactions
[edit]Many universities called police to clear encampments and occupations, resulting in mass arrests and suspensions of students and faculty.[2] Some institutions agreed to partial demands, including publishing lists of ties to Israeli entities or freezing select partnerships.
In the US, the federal government threatened funding cuts to universities that did not address alleged antisemitism or campus unrest, and some protesters faced deportation proceedings.[3] Civil liberties groups and faculty organizations expressed concern over free speech, academic freedom, and the militarization of campus policing.[2]
In Canada, following pro-Palestinian protests at the University of Toronto, the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) voted in favor of divesting from Israel, citing its opposition to what it described as Israel’s "illegal occupation" of Palestinian territories. The motion, which passed with 52% support, urges the Ontario University Pension Plan to swiftly divest from entities linked to the occupation or arms production potentially used by Israel in Palestine, aligning the move with the university’s existing divestment policy on Russia.[9]
See also
[edit]- 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses
- List of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in 2024
- Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus protests and occupations during the Gaza war
- Academic boycott of Israel
- Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Dozens arrested after pro-Palestinian protesters occupy University of Washington building". CNN. 2025-05-06. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
- ^ a b c d e f "Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at US's Columbia University". Al Jazeera. 2025-05-08. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
- ^ a b c "US reviews occupation of University of Washington building by pro-Palestinian protesters". Reuters. 2025-05-07. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
- ^ a b "Where Protesters on U.S. Campuses Have Been Arrested or Detained". The New York Times. 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
- ^ "Quebec Superior Court temporarily bars pro-Palestinian protests at McGill University". CBC News. Retrieved 17-05-2025.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|access-date=(help) - ^ "German police launch probe into anti-deportation protests – DW – 04/17/2025". dw.com. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
- ^ Hulst, Alex van der (2025-05-07). "Large-scale police operation after Palestinian protesters enter university administration building". Vox magazine (in Dutch). Retrieved 2025-05-17.
- ^ "Gaza protesters occupy Oxford University's Radcliffe Camera". www.bbc.com. 2025-01-24. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
- ^ "University of Toronto Faculty Association votes to divest from Israel". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2025-05-11. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
