US University becomes "war zone" as police respond to anti-Israel protest

Numerous US university campuses have seen large-scale demonstrations by students calling for an end to Israel's war on Hamas. In several institutions, there have been violent altercations between police and protestors, resulting in the detention of over 550 protesters.

Activists and media representatives who were present at the scene claim that despite the fact that the protests at Atlanta's Emory University have been mainly peaceful, law enforcement officers acting at the request of the college administration have used tear gas and stun guns on student protestors.

Emil Keme, an English and Indigenous studies professor at the university, remarked that the scene made him think of his teenage years spent during the Guatemalan Civil War, NDTV reported.

"Police immediately began to force people to move. I felt like I was in a war zone, with all the police and their weapons, the rubber bullets. We were pushed away," Mr Keme told the Guardian describing what happened as soon as cops entered the Emory campus.

“Police took the student next to me, pushed an older lady nearby and then pushed me.”

Student protestors said they were showing support for Palestinians in Gaza, where the health ministry of the Hamas-run region reports that the death toll has exceeded 34,305. They demand that colleges should reduce their investments in anything related to Israel and the armaments that escalate the conflict in Gaza. This includes money managed by Google, BlackRock, Amazon's cloud service, Lockheed Martin, and even Airbnb.

A video that went viral on social media depicts two women who identify as professors being held. One of the ladies is shown being thrown to the ground by a cop, and another police pushes her face and torso onto a concrete sidewalk.

A combined effort by Atlanta police and Georgia troopers is underway on campus to take down the camps and tents the protestors have erected in the school's courtyard. The institute said in a statement that 28 people—20 of whom were "Emory community members"—had been taken into custody within minutes of the police arriving on campus.

The president of the school declared that he is "horrified horrified that members of our community had to experience and witness such interactions" and that the films showing the cops fighting with students "are shocking.”