By Serife Cetin
A police raid was conducted Saturday on a demonstration supporting Palestine by students and professors at Northwestern University’s campus in the US city of Boston.
A university statement indicated that the raid occurred in the early hours.
It emphasized that professional provocateurs were among students and also noted that slogans like "Death to Jews" were heard.
It said hate crimes have no place on campus.
More than 100 individuals were detained during the raid, those with university identification were released and disciplinary proceedings would be initiated against those individuals, it added.
The statement also conveyed that individuals who did not show identification were arrested.
-Dawn raid
In social media footage, armored police entered the campus at dawn with multiple vehicles. Students and professors linked arms to block them. Police forcefully push demonstrators, including the media, to police vehicles.
"I did hear ‘kill the Jews,’” said a counter-protester holding an Israeli flag, seemingly as a joke in response to the group's pro-Palestine chants, said National Public Radio reporter Tori Bedford on X.
The news site, "Working Mass," announced that contrary to the university's claim, supporters of Palestine did not shout the slogan.
It said the slogan was shouted by pro-Israel demonstrators, with video evidence and hundreds of witnesses to support that claim.
The news site shared footage of one person among pro-Israel supporters loudly chanting "Death to Jews," with Palestinian supporters booing.
It demanded that the university make a statement.
-McGill University students set up camp in solidarity with Palestine
Students at McGill University, one of Canada's leading universities, also began protesting Israel on Saturday by setting up a camp in an open area of its Montreal campus.
"We will not allow our university to be complicit in genocide," demonstrators wrote on a poster, calling for support for Palestine.
Chanting: "Long live Palestine" and "End Investment," students called on the university to end financial investments in companies supporting Israel's attacks on Gaza.
A large number of police vehicles were dispatched outside the campus.
Students also held a hunger strike in February in support of Gaza.
*Writing by Necva Tastan, Gizem Nisa Cebi