NYU protest encampment to support Palestinians remains in place as students say it’s “incredibly difficult to focus”

NEW YORK — NYU students continued to occupy a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus on Thursday, despite threats of suspension.

The latest development comes as Israel-Hamas war protests continue to spring up on college campuses across the country. 

The situation compelled President Joe Biden to issue some unscheduled remarks on Thursday morning.

“Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is. It’s against the law when violence occurs. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It’s against the law,” Biden said. “Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations, none of this is a peaceful protest.”

A week of unrest on NYC college campuses

Wednesday night, protesters were on the move all over New York City. On Tuesday night, police arrested hundreds of people at Columbia University and City College of New York.

At NYU on Thursday, things appeared calmer than they were the previous few days. Police made arrests and cleared the encampment at the Stern School of Business last Friday. School President Linda G. Mills said only 65 of the 133 individuals arrested at Gould Plaza were current NYU students, faculty or staff.

“I never thought as president I would need to rely on the NYPD to secure the safety of our community. Social media was used to summons hundreds of people to our campus, including people who did not have permission to be at NYU and who we believe significantly threatened our community,” Mills said in a statement.

The message from the pro-Palestinian demonstrators has consistently been they won’t move until the school divests from companies that do business with Israel.

The demonstrations have taken a toll on students trying to finish up the semester and study for final exams.

“I live very close to where these protests are happening and I can hear the protests when I go to sleep at night, when I’m trying to study, from my room and that has made it incredibly difficult to focus,” student Adina Friedman said.

29 arrested at Stony Brook University encampment

The arrests on Wednesday night included students and faculty members.

School officials say students rejected an offer to meet with the university president to discuss demands.

Officials later sent in police after they say demonstrations escalated to harassing other students.