article 2 cna to Ls with youtube video

Pro-Palestinian sit-ins and encampments have sprung up on at least 100 campuses around the country, protesting Israel’s overwhelming military response to the surprise Hamas attack on Oct 7 that left 1,200 people dead in Israel. Some of the protests have featured antisemitic and intimidating chants and posters, and students have reported a burst of antisemitic acts on campus.

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Social justice activists, many of whom say they view Palestinians as an oppressed people and Israelis as the oppressors, have demonstrated in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, which was governed by Hamas before the war. Condemning the Israeli military campaign that the Hamas-run health ministry says has left more than 34,000 people dead in the Gaza Strip, they’ve called for colleges to divest from Israel.

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Some rallies have featured the slogan “from the river to the sea”. The phrase refers to aspirations for a Palestinian homeland that covers the entirety of the Holy Land - which encompasses what today is Israel, the West Bank and Gaza - stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. That, officially, is the goal of Hamas, which seeks the destruction of the state of Israel and is regarded as a terrorist group by the US and European Union.

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The threatening and antisemitic features of some of the protests are fuelling a sense of dread and isolation among Jewish students. One of the leaders of the Columbia protests, Khymani James, filmed himself making inflammatory comments - including “Zionists don’t deserve to live” - during a university disciplinary hearing. He was suspended after his incendiary views went viral on social media.