One example, from just up the Ivy-garlanded I-95, at Brown University, was announced just hours before Shafik again called in the police. Brown’s governing body agreed to vote on a proposal that would divest the school’s endowment of companies affiliated with Israel in a meeting in October. The proposal is based on a 2020 Advisory Committee on Corporation Responsibility in Investment Practices that identified and recommended divestment from “companies that facilitate the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory,” per the Brown Daily Herald.

In exchange, the university’s nonviolent student protesters agreed to vacate their encampment by 5 p.m. that afternoon.

Another plausible outcome from California: When a similar encampment went up a few days ago at the University of California, Irvine, it seemed likely that police might sweep the protesters away. Orange County sheriff’s deputies began to appear in riot gear near the protest.

But, rather than traffic in vague allegations of misconduct before hiding behind a belligerent mayor and an aggressive police force, like Shafik, the UC–Irvine administration took a much different tack. “UC Irvine respects the rights of any students to engage in free speech and expression including lawful protest,” the school said in a prepared statement. This, remember, is at a public school, where keeping public police forces away is more challenging than a private enclave like Columbia.

And in fact, Irvine’s mayor did get involved in the action. Not long after that, Mayor Farrah N. Khan issued a resounding statement declaring that she would not tolerate any violation of students’ free speech or right to assembly. “I am asking our law enforcement to stand down. I will not tolerate any violations to our students’ rights to peacefully assemble and protest.” She asked the deputies to leave, and they did.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20240502114414/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/05/columbia-student-protests-nypd-shafik-escalation.html

  • FractalsInfinite
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    8 months ago

    But it does matter. The US backs Isreals Genocide and is the one supporting there iron dome systems. Affecting public sentiment via protesting would make the US politicians less willing to send money to Isreal. That would influence the outcome.

    • ZK686@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      I hope you really don’t believe this. The US will always support Israel, it’s literally a matter of national security. There are bigger things at risk by not supporting Israel. Without US support, Israel would literally fall into “survival mode.” It would probably wipe out all of Gaza and get rid of the Palestinians just to be on the safe side. If left unprotected, the entire Middle East would attack Israel, possibly created a 3rd World War. If the US wasn’t their main support system, they’d turn to someone else, like China or Russia, who would then be their primary source for protection. What the protestors don’t understand, is that the US doesn’t give foreign aid out of the goodness of our hearts. If it’s not good for America we don’t do it. Every penny comes with strings attached. If we stop supporting Israel we will no longer have a seat at the table and leverage, among other benefits for the US. This is much more than just the Israel/Palestine conflict.

      • eskimofry@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        How does Israel give the U.S “a seat at the table”? Isn’t the U.S a UNSC member with Veto powers? Does the U.S really need to support Israel for everything?

      • Killing_Spark@feddit.de
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        8 months ago

        How was that not your first comment instead of that horrible first comment? This is a very nuanced view on the topic i didn’t expect from someone that said “the US has nothing to do with the war in Gaza”.

        I’m not a USA citizen so I won’t comment on the rest.