"We are in shock right now. The NYU administration called the police on its own students last week and the university has been in an uproar ever since, and today the police came back on our campus and dismantled a peaceful encampment, in a shocking attack on the very foundations of what it means to be a university," Jacob Remes, an NYU professor, told Lusa.

Early on Tuesday morning, dozens of NYU students who had been camping out next to the John A. Paulson Center academic building in Manhattan were caught off guard by officers from the New York Police Department, who quickly dismantled the encampment at the request of the university administration, which deemed the student action “illegal”.

But faculty members reject any suggestion of illegality in this pro-Palestinian protest movement, which is demanding that the university divest from companies linked to Israel’s occupation of Gaza.

As a professor, and as a Jew, Jacob Remes became emotional when asked by Lusa about claims made by some politicians that these protests are anti-Semitic.

"I have been at the encampment every day this week, and it has been a space of community, of conversation. It has been the most intellectually warm space I have seen on campus. The idea that somehow opposing genocide is anti-Semitic is one of the most offensive things that has ever been said to me,” he lamented.

"I am trying very hard not to cry, because my religion tells me that I have to stand up for justice, for decency, and against genocide. If what I am doing here is dangerous, in terms of potential professional retaliation, it is nothing compared to the suffering that the people of Gaza go through every single day. It is nothing compared to the dangers that my students are facing, with arrests happening left and right,” he argued.

After seeing the encampment dismantled, university staff admit they are now in a period of reflection, to decide what their next steps will be.

In the meantime, the protests continue, with faculty members demanding amnesty for all students, faculty and staff involved in the encampment, and for all those previously fired or disciplined for their political speech and action.

They are also demanding that police leave the university campus, recalling a memorandum of understanding adopted in 2020, stating that police may only enter NYU in response to a violent felony or the disappearance of a student.

The demands also include that the NYU administration engage in substantive negotiations with students over their demands to boycott investments in Israel.

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