US campus rallies over Gaza war ‘Hot summer of protest’ waiting

About a dozen students arrested by police clearing a sit-in at a Denver college campus emerged from detainment to cheers from fellow pro-Palestinian protesters, several waving yellow court summons like tiny victory flags and imploring fellow demonstrators not to let their energy fade.

Just how much staying power the student demonstrations over the war in Gaza that have sprung up in Denver and at dozens of universities across the United States will have is a key question for protesters, school administrators and police, with graduation ceremonies being held, summer break coming and high-profile encampments dismantled.

The student protesters passionately say they will continue until administrators meet demands that include permanent ceasefire in Gaza, university divestment from arms suppliers and other companies profiting from the war, and amnesty for students and faculty members who have been disciplined or fired for protesting.

Academics who study protest movements and the history of civil disobedience say it’s difficult to maintain the people-power energy on campus if most of the people are gone. But they also point out that university demonstrations are just one tactic in the wider pro-Palestinian movement that has existed for decades, and that this summer will provide many opportunities for the energy that started on campuses to migrate to the streets.

Dana Fisher is a professor at American University in Washington, DC, and author of several books on activism and grassroots movements who has seen some of her own students among protesters on her campus.

She noted the college movement spread organically across the country as a response to police called onto campus at Columbia University on April 18, when more than 100 people were arrested. Since those arrests, at least 2,600 demonstrators have been detained at more than 100 protests in 39 states and Washington, DC, according to The Appeal, a nonprofit news organization.

“I don’t see enough organizational infrastructure to sustain a bunch of young people who are involved in a movement when they are not on campus,” Fisher said.

Students in Denver say the movement’s spread from the coasts to the heartland and to smaller universities shows it has staying power. Student protests also have flared outside the US. They have vowed to continues protest as long as it takes to meet their demands.

They have pledged to be on the campuses during the summer break and even after that.

Fisher thinks the current campus demonstrations foreshadow a “long, hot summer of protest” about many issues, and that the Republican national convention in July and the Democratic national convention in August will be ripe targets for massive protest.

“And then you just plop right down in the middle of all that the presidential election?” she said. “It’s a crazy recipe for one hell of a fall.”