PNN – The Guardian wrote: American universities apply strict regulations to prevent the repetition of protests against the Gaza war; An action in which students, faculty members and student activists have warned about its impact on the violation of freedom of expression.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, the Guardian added: Universities across the United States are looking to implement stricter regulations to prevent students from resuming their protests when they return from summer vacation.
Universities apply these regulations under the pretext of preventing the repetition of student protests in the last semester in protest of the Zionist regime’s war in Gaza, which led to the suppression of students by the police in universities.
According to the Guardian, Columbia University students who initiated the student movements may face the most strictures. Minoosh Shafiq, the president of this university, resigned last week under the pressure of criticism of his performance in controlling the protests.
Referring to the installation of a fence around the lawn of Columbia University, which was the main focus of protests and student camps, the Guardian wrote, these barriers are not the only new measures taken by the university to prevent the recurrence of protests. The previous round of protests culminated in the arrest of 109 students after New York police entered campus last April.
Columbia University administrators are also considering using officers with powers to detain students, according to the Wall Street Journal. Columbia University’s 290 security forces have so far lacked such powers.
The Guardian wrote: The strict new regulations do not apply only to Columbia University. Universities across the US are also considering new policies and proposals to limit student protests.
The Association of University Professors issued a statement condemning the new wave of actions against student protests.
The association, representing more than 44,000 university faculty members across the United States, stated that such policies “impose severe restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly that can violate freedom of expression.”
Such actions should also raise alarm bells for those who care about higher education and democracy, the association said in a statement.
Universities across America have been facing intense student protests since the beginning of the Zionist war in Gaza. Students and professors of American universities want to cut ties with the Israeli regime among many demands from their officials.
In the last academic semester, dozens of camps were set up in solidarity with the Palestinians in universities across the United States. With the intervention of the police, more than 3,100 students were arrested. A large number of these students faced criminal charges and disciplinary measures, and a number of universities were forced to cancel their graduation ceremonies.