Faculty of New York private university join students in pro-Palestine encampment

NEW YORK, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Faculty members of The New School, a private university in Manhattan of New York City, the United States, set up their own pro-Palestine encampment in the lobby of the campus building near Union Square on Wednesday.

The faculty members involved in the action called for, among others, divestment from weapons manufacturing companies, dismissal of charges against student protesters and the removal of New York police on campus, according to The New School Free Press.

About 20 professors occupied the lobby with tents and banners reading "Faculty Against Genocide." This is reportedly the first faculty-led protest in the United States.

The staff at The New School named their encampment after Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian poet and professor, who was killed in an airstrike in December 2023.

Roughly 40 students were arrested and subsequently suspended from The New School as a student encampment was cleared by the New York Police Department on May 3. Across the nation, more than 2,000 arrests have been made on college campuses in recent weeks.

Many of the university's students have seen a shift to online classes or venues outside of school grounds, with one student reporting that their professor held class at a restaurant. And some teachers are refusing to submit final grades until their demands are met.

Scores of U.S. college campuses have seen pro-Palestinian movements over the past few months, and high schools are starting to participate as well. Students in Chicago, Illinois; Salem, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and some cities in Washington state have been organizing walkouts, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, protests continue to rage across the United States as Israel launched new attacks on targets in the Gaza Strip.

In New York City alone, The New School, Baruch College, Fordham University and The Cooper Union have planned encampments, walk-outs or rallies, in solidarity with Palestine, which are set to commence on May 9, according to posts on social media.