LAST WEEK, police at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland arrested four students on felony vandalism charges in relation to protests against Israel’s war on Gaza. The students were transferred to the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, jail, a detention facility subject to calls for closure over inhumane conditions, abuse by jail staff, and the use of solitary confinement. All four students were released from jail over the weekend.
The arrests are part of the long arm of the crackdowns on campus protests that started in the spring and kept pace this fall. School officials had described the spray paint as “antisemitic.”
A local news clip shows a wall spray-painted with the names of Palestine, Sudan, Congo, and Haiti. A building entrance was also splashed with red paint, including handprints, with posted signs that say, “Your school funds genocide.”
The protest and its aftermath came as Case Western was facing a federal civil rights complaint alleging bias against protesters and Palestinian students. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education opened a Title VI investigation at Case Western.
The latest arrests were part of an expansive crackdown: The school spent more than $300,000 on public safety staffing, equipment, and remediation after tearing down protest encampments, including removing signs and painting over murals on a campus “spirit wall,” according to documents reviewed by The Intercept. (The school said it could not comment on the criminal investigation.)
Case Western issued notices of interim suspension or other warnings to students after protests in the spring and barred some graduating students from campus. Only one student, however, was suspended for the fall semester: Yousef Khalaf, president of the school’s undergraduate chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
Among seven violations referenced in the notices, Khalaf faces school disciplinary allegations for engaging in intimidating behavior, including using the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” He is barred from campus until the spring of 2026.
Khalaf said he was treated differently than other protesters. His was the only case for which the school hired an outside firm, BakerHostetler, he said. He said SJP students have been contacted by school administrators for posting flyers or attending group events. (BakerHostetler and Case Western did not respond to a request for comment.)
With Israel’s war on Gaza entering its second year, Khalaf is among thousands of students and faculty members still being targeted in universities’ battles over harsh protest crackdowns, free speech, academic independence, and discrimination.
The fights are playing out online, in campus quads, internal disciplinary proceedings, and in the courts. Organizers among the students and faculty say universities are retaliating against them for their activism and restricting their civil liberties and freedom of expression while claiming to uphold both.
“The university is threatening us with sanctions that could jeopardize our academic careers if we choose to speak out again.”
As campus protests reached their height in May, Dahlia Saba, a second-year Palestinian American graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote an op-ed supporting the demonstrators’ demands. She called on the school to address calls to divest from industries that profit from Israel’s war. She and her co-author Vignesh Ramachandran, another graduate student, were met with student nonacademic disciplinary investigations that relied solely on the op-ed for evidence.
“The university is threatening us with sanctions that could jeopardize our academic careers if we choose to speak out again,” Saba said. “They’re low-level sanctions to begin with, but the university is pursuing sanctions against many people on very little evidence.”
The issue is not so much the severity of the sanctions, Saba said, but using punishments to chill students’ speech. The disciplinary actions become a tool, she said, to help universities keep track of people involved in protests for Palestine.
“They are basically trying to get any sort of sanction on people’s records,” Saba said, “so that if they speak up again, if they do anything that criticizes the university’s investment policy, or if they in any way speak out in support of Palestine or in solidarity with Palestine, that students could be scared that the university could bring further charges against them that could then enact harsher consequences.”
Photo: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Last month, 13 police officers stormed the home of student organizers at the University of Pennsylvania to conduct a raid on suspicion of a month-old incident of vandalism in connection to Gaza protests.
Pomona College suspended 10 students unilaterally for the remainder of the academic year on allegations of participating in protests for divestment.
Schools nationwide prepared for potential pro-Palestinian activism this fall, discussing strategies to preempt such protests. Campuses like Columbia University warned of potential violence ahead of planned walkouts and protests. Meanwhile, students and advocacy groups are criticizing university administrators for their responses to protests, citing an anti-Palestinian bias in new policies governing freedom of expression.
The crackdown on student protests has resulted in legal battles and federal complaints. Students at the University of California, Irvine sued the school over suspensions without due process. Prosecutors have charged protesters with misdemeanors in some cases, while others have seen charges dismissed. The crackdown is seen as a way for universities to maintain donor support.
Complaints of discrimination against protesters and Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students have been filed at other universities, including Case Western and Rutgers University. These actions have sparked legal battles and federal investigations, highlighting the ongoing struggle for free expression and activism on campus. This is why it’s concerning that efforts are being made to silence them through various steps.
Assar highlighted the stark contrast in treatment between pro-Palestinian organizers and other groups, noting that while officials engage with Hillel, a pro-Israel group, they refuse to communicate with these students.
While some student protesters face backlash from administrators, others have experienced discrimination on campus. Incidents include vandalism of the Center for Islamic Life and federal complaints of bias against Muslim and Arab students. Rutgers University stated they are cooperating with investigations and take bias claims seriously.
Protests at Rutgers led to a counterprotester assaulting a pro-Palestine student, resulting in charges. The school temporarily suspended the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group twice, with the latest suspension expected to last until July 2025.
Students have reported bias from professors, with some facing backlash for disrupting events. A Muslim student recounted an incident where a professor targeted them, leading to bias complaints from both parties.
Universities have been influenced by donors, leading to attempts to control student speech. Pressure from donors has been observed at Case Western, causing concern among administrators.
At the University of Maryland, administrators initially supported a pro-Palestine protest but later canceled it due to pressure from Zionist organizations. Despite a federal court order allowing the protest, the school imposed restrictions on the event. Hafsa Siddiqi, the university’s media relations manager, referenced a statement from school President Darryll Pines following a court ruling allowing the protest to proceed when asked about the protest.
Abel highlighted the university’s bias against pro-Palestine activists and in favor of pro-war forces, pointing out the school’s partnerships with weapons manufacturers like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
Assar noted that the repression of pro-Palestine activism on campus began before the October 7 incident, citing instances at her alma mater and other universities where speaking up for Palestinians was met with criticism and condemnation.
Saba, a graduate student at Madison, expressed feeling alienated on campus as a Palestinian American student and discussed how Palestinian voices are silenced and punished by universities, making it difficult for Palestinian students to find community and speak out against injustice.
She emphasized the importance of organizing against oppressive institutions and the criminalization of such organizing by schools invested in supporting genocide.
Overall, the article sheds light on the challenges faced by pro-Palestine activists on college campuses and the need for greater support and recognition of their voices. Can you please rewrite this sentence for me?
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