Breathe
By Brenda Estefan
It should come as no surprise that young people are protesting the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza; it would be strange if they did not.
The prestigious Columbia University in New York was the epicenter of a contagion that has seen universities such as Harvard, MIT, Yale, Berkeley and many more become the scene of student protests in solidarity with Gaza. The young people condemn the Biden administration's policy, in their eyes too "pro-Israel". They call for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave and demand that universities cut off all investment in any company or entity related to Israel.
On several campuses, university authorities have used the police to disperse young demonstrators, sometimes violently, and regain control of the facilities. Hundreds of young people have been arrested, a severe and unusual reaction to contain student demonstrations. In fact, the last time the police had intervened at Columbia University was in 1968. But neither threats of sanctions, nor police evictions, nor arrests of young people have prevented the protests from continuing.
