Students protesting at George Washington University in the US capital are outraged over the New York Police Department's crackdown on another college sit-in at Columbia University, even as Israel continues its deadly onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
Last month, students set up the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on their campus to protest Columbia's lack of response to Israel's attacks in the Palestinian enclave. Like many of their fellow student demonstrators across the country, they were demanding that their university divests from companies doing business with Israel.
Almost 300 students were arrested Tuesday night on the campuses of Columbia and City College during protests calling for universities to divest from Israel and denouncing Israeli actions in Gaza, where over 34,500 people have been killed in nearly seven months of bombardment and ground attacks.
Kali, 19, who chose not to give her full name, said she was at the encampment since day one and sending full solidarity to the organizers at Columbia University.
"We find it really disheartening that our universities would rather use police violence against protesters than divest from the genocide of the people of Palestine," she told Anadolu in an interview.
"It's really, really sad to see that our government and our universities would rather tear gas students than fight for the liberation of Palestine and stop this genocide," she said.
Kali is one of the protesters that have said they will not leave until their school has cut all financial ties with Israel and Israel-linked entities. Despite the school administration's "repressive response" they have vowed to stand their ground.
"We remained here regardless of that fear, because we know that no matter how much fear we're experiencing, the fear of experiencing bombs and airstrikes in Gaza is so much more, so we owe our people in Palestine full solidarity regardless of fear. And we're staying until those demands are met," she said.
Kali said US support has enabled Israel to commit atrocities in Gaza with the full backing of the Biden administration.
"It's honestly really been disappointing because, especially for our Arab, Muslim or anti-Zionist community, it feels like we have no options," she said.
"So whether it's Biden or Trump or any political party, we will fight for liberation. And we don't hesitate to criticize Biden in that regard. Our focus is on whatever is materially best for the Palestinian people," she added.
Yasmine, another student with Gallaudet University, also in Washington, expressed outrage at the police violence that has taken place against students at Columbia, which she said has become commonplace on campuses across the US.
"A lot of us saw the news yesterday and we were all very, very enraged, very disgusted ... Of course, every time we see something like this, we're enraged, we feel disgusted, but at the same time, we know that this is exactly what the state does," she told Anadolu.
"And this is exactly what the police are for. They're there. Their job is to actually suppress and oppress us. And so we aren't surprised (with what) we're seeing with universities all over the US. But somehow they continue to up their violence and up their repression of students who are fighting for the most simple demands," she explained.
Yasmine, who also declined to be fully named in this story, said she will stay at the protest until its demands are met.
"They can do whatever they want. But they know that we're in power and that we have the numbers and that this is now our yard and our liberated zone. And so they're going to have to do a lot to get us out of here," she said.
Turning to the situation in Gaza, Yasmine, herself a Palestinian-American, said it has been "horrific to watch the genocide of Gaza" for seven months now.
"And it's honestly indescribable. I can't tell you exactly how it feels. But it tells us that we need to escalate and we need to do something because our government is not going to stop it," she said.
"Our government is committing it, currently. It is just as much as US genocide as it is an Israeli genocide of Gaza. So, we know that any requests will not be answered. We make demands," Yasmine told Anadolu.
Yaya Anatanag, another student with George Washington University, said she was "horrified" at the police response against Columbia students.
"We're absolutely horrified to see the brutality that the NYPD has waged against students at Columbia who are peacefully protesting the genocide in Gaza. And it's disgusting to see how the police and the administration at that university is prioritizing brutalizing students, rather than coming to full divestment from the Zionist entity," Anatanag, 23, said.
Echoing her fellow protesting students, she also vowed to stay at the encampment until her university divests "from all Zionist partnerships."
"And if that doesn't happen, I'll stay here until I get arrested. But until then, we're here to stay and we'll stay here for as long as we need to," she said.
Anatanag said she was not concerned about potential police intervention and highlighted the role of community members in keeping them safe during police confrontations.
"We are not concerned because we have a strong community here that is keeping us safe. We have various police liaisons and marshals who do the job of de-escalating when there are police confrontations and they're able to intervene when those instances happen.
"So we really rely on the community members in this time and they have thus far kept us safe and we feel very protected by them," she said.
