According to NBC News, it was noted that the pro-Palestinian arrests came from some 60 universities and institutions that joined the demonstrations and sit-ins in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, which also demanded schools break their relations with Israel.

Wednesday night, 12 people were arrested at the University of New Hampshire, all charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing; as well as four others at Yale for the same cause.

29 other people at Stony Brook University (New York) were also taken into custody shortly after midnight: 22 students, two faculty members and five others for “violating various laws.”

While the Columbia University chapter of the American Association of University Professors called for a vote of no confidence against the institution’s president Minouche Shafik ahead of the “horrific police attack on our students.”

In a statement Thursday morning, the members said they “unequivocally condemn” Shafik’s decision to call in the NYPD to clear out Hamilton Hall and the sit-ins set up there. The action, they said, was taken without consulting the University Senate.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators opposed to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza seized control of Hamilton Hall on the Columbia campus Monday.

Los Angeles police on Wednesday night cleared out the protesters at the University of California, including violent clashes at the scene, which continued Thursday morning, according to reports. President Joe Biden said in a statement from the White House that the pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. universities have not caused him to rethink his Middle East policy.

Thousands of voters have cast protest votes against Biden in the Democratic primaries, and a recent CNN poll released over the weekend found that his worst approval rating was for his handling of Israel’s war against Hamas.

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