Pro-Palestine students stage walkout during commencement at New York University

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - A group of students at New York University (NYU) staged a protest in solidarity with Palestine during the school’s main graduation ceremony at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on Wednesday.

Wearing keffiyehs and chanting "We will free Palestine,” they walked out of their commencement, demanding their school divest from Israel.

According to reports, several protesters had their hands painted red, while others carried Palestinian flags and banners that featured slogans in solidarity with Palestine.

Many students left the ceremony area as NYU President Linda G. Mills was set to deliver her speech at the graduation ceremony.

The protest took place alongside similar disruptions at commencements at various universities throughout the country in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Pro-Palestine campus protests have been persistent in the US since April 17, when students at Columbia University in New York launched an encampment in solidarity with Gaza and demanded that their school divest from Israel.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested at US campuses since last month amid heavily polarized debates over the right to protest, the limits of free speech and accusations of antisemitism.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack last year by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

More than 35,230 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and over 79,140 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

In the West Bank, nearly 500 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured since Oct. 7, along with daily arrest campaigns by the Israeli army.

Israel is accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.