US university accused of violating rights of pro-Palestinian students – Current Affairs

For more than a week, the New York University campus has been occupied by a camp of pro-Palestinian students calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

The resolution, which received 62 votes in favor on Friday, 14 against and 3 abstentions, called for an investigation and accuses the administration of violating established protocols, undermining academic freedom, endangering free research and violating the rights of students and teachers to a fair legal process.

The university’s president, Nemat Shafik, was criticized for calling the police to the campus in northern Manhattan last week, resulting in the arrest of more than 100 student protesters.

The resolution, cited by The New York Times, stated that police officers harassed students and used “intrusive investigative methods”, including “attempting to enter rooms and dormitories (…) without the students’ consent”.

According to the document, the agents demanded “to see the students’ cell phones and text messages with threats of suspension in case of disobedience”.

The resolution also called for the creation of a Senate working group to investigate university decision-making.

The decision is expected to have few practical effects, since the Senate does not have the power to remove the university president.

Also on Friday, the university’s vice president for communications, Ben Chang, said at a press conference that dialogue continues with organizers of student protests over the dismantling of the camp.

Cheng mentioned a video that he described as “extremely alarming” and threatened to impose “disciplinary action” because “calls for violence and statements against people because of their religious, ethnic or national identity are unacceptable and violate university policy.”

The statement was an apparent reference to a video, recorded in January and released on Thursday, which shows one of the camp’s leaders, Khymani James, making controversial comments, including that “Zionists do not deserve to live”.

James on Friday apologized on social media.

Hours later, the university announced that James was barred from campus, but did not clarify whether the student had been suspended or expelled.

Hundreds of American university students are gathered on different campuses in protest against the war in Gaza, demanding that the United States immediately stop all commercial transactions with Israel or any company that supports the conflict.