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American universities are facing a series of protests fueled by students calling for a boycott of Israel over the war in Gaza. Protesters are demanding that academic institutions stop investing in companies linked to the conflict in the Palestinian enclave and that they cease any funding related to Israeli military operations. These protests have generated debate about freedom of expression, anti-Semitism and the role of universities in international politics.
The protests began at Columbia University, where students set up camps on campus to oppose Israel's military actions in Gaza. Not only did they speak out against military operations, but they also asked their university to stop investing in projects that benefit the Israeli government or companies that finance the war in the Middle East.
The wave of protests soon spread to other prestigious universities, such as Yale, Harvard, Berkeley and Michigan.among other.
This growing student opposition has generated mixed responses from academic authorities and the Israeli government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called these protests “anti-Semitic” acts and has urged university presidents to take stronger measures to curb hate.
The students and their defenders maintain that these protests are part of their right to freedom of expression and they argue that the funding Israel provides to American universities compromises their academic independence. Critics of the protests say the boycott movement can foster anti-Semitism and that universities should be spaces for dialogue, not political divisions.
Read alsoPro-Palestinian protests proliferate at US universities despite arrests
What is the relationship of US college campuses with Israel? What is behind the call for a boycott? We discussed it with our guests:
– Mariana Navarrete Villegas, reporter for the community media for migrants Molino Informativo, student of the master's degree in Bilingual Journalism at the City University of New York, who was in the Columbia camp.
– Sammy Eppel, coordinator of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism.
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