The pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Columbia University, infiltrated by police last week, is back in place, and with it, similar encampments at universities around the country. These, too, are facing police intervention amid the ongoing debate around free speech and antisemitism related to the Israel-Hamas war. More on how the crisis ballooned and why Columbia is at its center:
- Why Columbia? "Colleges and universities have long been hotbeds for activism," and Columbia is "based in the largest US city, with the second-biggest Jewish population in the world after Tel Aviv" and a fifth of the US Muslim population, per USA Today.