Campus protests live: University of Minnesota strikes deal with Gaza protesters after 130 arrested at UCLA

The US House of Representatives passed an antisemitism bill on Wednesday evening as pro-Palestinian campus protests surge across the country.

The bill would create “a clear definition of antisemitism” if passed by the US Senate and signed by the president. In turn, this bill would then allow the US Department of Education to cut funding to schools found tolerating behaviour that falls under the definition.

The bill passed with bipartisan support, 320-91.

Free speech advocates, however, oppose the bill. The American Civil Liberties Union argues the bill “would likely chill free speech of students on college campuses by incorrectly equating criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism.”

PEN America, a non-profit that advocates for free expression, also condemned the bill, noting that it would adopt the definition of antisemitism as laid out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

“This definition, and its illustrative examples, is overbroad; its enshrinement into law could lead to significant impairment of academic freedom, free speech and legitimate political expression,” the organisation wrote this week.

“Codifying the IHRA definition, which was never intended to be legally binding or otherwise codified into law, is not the right way to attack antisemitic speech and bigotry,” the organisation continued. “Its vague nature is ill-suited to serve as a legal standard, much less form a basis for punitive action.”

Representative Michael Lawler, a Republican from New York who sponsored the bill, said enshrining the IHRA definition in law will instead protect Jewish students on college campuses.

“By requiring the Department of Education to adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism and its contemporary examples, the Antisemitism Awareness Act gives teeth to federal anti-discrimination laws to go after those who attack their Jewish peers,” Mr Lawler said. “Politics should never get in the way of the safety of students. The strong bipartisan support for and passage of this legislation will ensure that it won’t.”

The Pulitzer Prize Board, housed under Columbia University, praised student journalists’ efforts to cover the protests even while facing “risk of arrest.”

“As we gather to consider the nation’s finest and most courageous journalism, the Pulitzer Prize Board would like to recognize the tireless efforts of student journalists across our nation’s college campuses, who are covering protests and unrest in the face of great personal and academic risk,” the board wrote on Thursday, four days ahead of announcing the 2024 prize winners.

“We would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary real-time reporting of student journalists at Columbia University, where the Pulitzer Prizes are housed, as the New York Police Department was called onto campus on Tuesday night,” they continued.

As The Independent’s Alex Woodward reported, student journalists worked round the clock to capture the historic demonstrations on college campuses across the country.

Gaza protesters at the University of Minnesota have agreed to take down their four-day encampment after administrators agreed to discuss their demands, USA Today reports.

The protesters are asking the university to bar companies with ties to Israel from campus events and job fairs. Interim University President Jeff Ettinger said he is also recommending campus police do not press any charges against protesters.

Hanover, New Hampshire police officers arrested some 90 Gaza demonstrators at Dartmouth College overnight Wednesday into Thursday.

Those arrested included students and non-students, the police department said.

Mr Biden, speaking from the East Room of the White House, said peaceful protest is “in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues” because the US is “not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent”.

He said the images of police clashing with protesters put the “fundamental American principles” of free speech and the rule of law “to the test” as he pointed out the importance of maintaining the latter to allow the former.

Read more from The Independent’s White House Correspondent Andrew Feinberg:

The Columbia University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors is calling for a vote of no confidence in President Minouche Shafik and her fellow administrators.

In a statement, the chapter condemned her decision to call the New York Police Department on protesters who had occupied Hamilton Hall Tuesday night.

“This decision was made without consultation with the University Senate, in violation of established procedures, by recourse to so-called emergency powers,” the chapter said in a Thursday statement. “It also flew in the face of efforts by the AAUP and faculty trusted by the student protestors to de-escalate the situation on campus and to serve as observers in negotiations–efforts endorsed by the University Senate chair that continued into the afternoon before the assault.”

More than 100 people were arrested on Columbia’s campus Tuesday evening.