Columbia University, the epicentre of pro-Palestinian protests that have upended college campuses across the United States, began suspending student demonstrators on Monday after they defied an ultimatum to disperse.

The move follows almost two weeks of protests against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza that have swept through higher education institutions from coast to coast, after around 100 protesters were first arrested at Columbia on April 18.

In the latest crackdown, authorities at the prestigious university in New York demanded that the protest encampment be cleared by 2:00pm (1800 GMT) or students would face disciplinary action.

“These repulsive scare tactics mean nothing compared to the deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians,” said a statement, read out by a student at a press conference after the deadline, referring to the death toll in Gaza.

“We will not move until Columbia meets our demands or […] are moved by force,” said the student, who would not give his name.

A few hours later, Columbia vice president of communications Ben Chang said the university had “begun suspending students as part of this next phase of our efforts to ensure safety on our campus”.

He said students had been warned they would be “placed on suspension, ineligible to complete the semester or graduate, and will be restricted from all academic, residential, and recreational spaces”.

Meanwhile, at the University of Texas at Austin, police clashed with protesters on Monday, including using pepper spray, and made arrests while dismantling an encampment, adding to the more than 350 people detained nationwide over the weekend.

“No encampments will be allowed,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on social media. “Instead, arrests are being made.”

Paul Quinzi, of the Austin Lawyers Guild helping those detained, told AFP they estimated “at least 80 arrests, and they are still going.”

Police pushed and shoved away protesters at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, local television footage showed. Students said police deployed teargas and pepper spray to clear them.

VCU said in a statement on social media platform X that it had repeatedly offered opportunities to the protesters, “many of whom were not students […] to leave. Those who did not were subjected to arrest and trespassing.”

Protests against Israel’s offensive in Gaza, with its high Palestinian civilian death toll, have posed a challenge to university administrators trying to balance free speech rights with complaints that the rallies have veered into anti-Semitism and hate.

Footage of police in riot gear summoned at various colleges to break up rallies has been viewed around the world, recalling the protest movement that erupted during the Vietnam War.

Talks collapse

Columbia University president Minouche Shafik, in a statement on Monday announcing talks had broken down, said: “Many of our Jewish students, and other students as well, have found the atmosphere intolerable in recent weeks.

“Many have left campus, and that is a tragedy,” she said. “Anti-Semitic language and actions are unacceptable and calls for violence are simply abhorrent.”

Protest organisers deny accusations of anti-Semitism, arguing their actions are aimed at Israel’s government and its prosecution of the conflict in Gaza.

They also insist non-student agitators have engineered some of the incidents. With the school year wrapping up, administrators point to the need to maintain order on campus for exam studies.

“One group’s rights to express their views cannot come at the expense of another group’s right to speak, teach and learn,” said Shafik.

One graduate student protester, who asked to be identified only as “Z,” said: “It’s finals week, everyone is still working on their finals.

“But at the end of the day, school is temporary,” the protester told AFP.

US President Joe Biden’s White House has also attempted to walk a fine line of defending the right to protest while condemning reported acts of anti-Semitism.

“We get that it is a painful moment that Americans are dealing with, and free expression has to be done within the law,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday.

However, Biden’s Republican opponents have seized on the issue, casting the protests as anti-Semitic and threatening to pull federal funding if they aren’t stopped.

“What continues to transpire at Columbia is an utter disgrace. The campus is being overrun by anti-Semitic students and faculty alike,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on X, reiterating his call for Shafik to resign.

Meanwhile, suspensions were also ongoing at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where president Martha Pollack said student protesters had been “dishonest” by saying they did not intend to form a tented encampment on campus.

Over days of negotiations, students were offered multiple opportunities to move the encampment or face sanctions.

“They declined,” Pollack wrote. “Therefore, more temporary suspensions… are forthcoming.”

The conflict in Gaza started when Hamas staged an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that left around 1,170 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed almost 34,500 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.