The study also found that while police were most likely to break up a protest when counter protesters also showed up, unopposed peaceful pro-Palestine protests were five and a half times more likely to be forcibly dispersed than unopposed pro-Israel protests.
The ACLED defined violence as something that goes beyond “pushing or shoving” and property damage as “breaking a window or worse”.

This was the second study the ACLED released on violence at campus protests, the previous review published on May 2 found that 99% of campus protests were peaceful.

Among the protests that included violence or property damage, roughly half of them only became violent after police was called to remove previously peaceful protesters. It also found far more incidents – 70 in total – where police used violence, including chemical agents and baton beatings, against protesters.

The most significant instance of violence, according to the study, was when a group of pro-Israeli protesters attacked an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, where a pro-Israeli group showed up after dark using pepper spray and fireworks. In that case, the police stood by for hours, and then forcibly broke up the encampment the following day.

The study found only two incidents of what it considered serious property damage perpetrated by pro-Palestinian campus protests. One event took place at Portland State, where protesters occupied a library and damaged some computers and furniture. The second unfolded at Columbia, where protesters broke some windows while occupying Hamilton Hall.

According to reports, nearly 3,000 demonstrators have been arrested nationwide at campus protests.

Some protesters are complaining they have faced death threats and harassment after being added to a website that lists people who allegedly participated in antisemitic or anti-Israel protests.

The site, Canary Mission, includes a searchable database of students, professors, professionals and organizations it claims are antisemitic and lists people for alleged actions including joining a protest, participating in chants and posting on social media. It also includes a section called “Ex-Canary”, which lists anonymous quotes allegedly from individuals who were previously on the Canary list, condemning their previous comments and actions.

The site encourages people listed on the site to contact them to find out how to have their name removed.

“Individuals who believe that they should be removed from the Canary Mission website are encouraged to be in touch with us and may become an Ex-Canary,” the site’s About Us page reads.

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell spoke about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas during the NATO Youth Summit in Miami just days after the Biden administration paused certain arms shipments to Israel.

“I think in some respects, we are struggling over what the theory of victory is. Sometimes when we listen closely to Israeli leaders, they talked about mostly the idea of some sort of sweeping victory on the battlefield, total victory,” Campbell said.

“I don’t think we believe that that is likely or possible,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to pursue an “absolute victory” over Hamas, which attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The Israeli military has moved into Rafah in recent days, where more than 1 million Palestinians were at one point seeking refuge from the war.

Campbell explained that the U.S. believes there needs to be “more of a political solution” to the war.

“I will say what’s different from the past is that in that sense, many countries want to move towards a political solution in which the rights of Palestinians are more respected,” he stated.

“I don’t think it’s ever been more difficult than right now, but I still believe that the commitment is there. And we’re hearing that more and more from countries in the region as well.”

His comments come after President Biden said last week he’ll stop sending offensive weapons to Israel if it invades Rafah, where the Biden administration has repeatedly warned against invading.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the US has not seen any Israeli plans to protect civilians or for the future of Gaza after the war.

“We believe two things. One, you have to have a clear, credible plan to protect civilians, which we haven’t seen. Second, we also need to see a plan for what happens after this conflict in Gaza … is over,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Major Harrison Mann said he resigned from the Department of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) over the “nearly unqualified support” the US has provided Israel “which has enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians [in Gaza]”.

In a resignation letter posted on LinkedIn on Monday, Mann, who resigned on 1 November, explained to colleagues the reason for his “abrupt departure” from the agency.

“At some point…you’re either advancing a policy that enables [the] mass starvation of children, or you’re not,” he wrote, adding, “I know that I did, in my small way, wittingly advance that policy.”

Mann served as a US Army officer for 13 years, with a posting as a security cooperation officer at the US embassy in Tunis.

Following his stint in Tunisia, he served as a Middle East intelligence analyst at DIA, and most recently as an “executive officer” at the agency’s Middle East and Africa centre, according to his LinkedIn account.

Mann’s departure is the first time a US Army officer and member of the intelligence community has publicly resigned in protest against US support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

The Department of State has seen two public resignations over the Biden administration’s Gaza policy, the most high-profile of which was the departure of Josh Paul, a former director overseeing US arms transfers.

Annelle Sheline, a foreign affairs officer on a two-year contract with the State Department, also resigned in March.

Mann acknowledged the junior role he played at DIA, noting that his work may have appeared “administrative or marginal”.

“The past months have presented us with the most horrific and heartbreaking images imaginable…and I have been unable to ignore the connection between those images and my duties here. This caused me incredible shame and guilt.”

Mann cited his European Jewish ancestry, stating he was “haunted” by what he believed was his failure to live up to the“unforgiving moral environment when it came to the topic of bearing responsibility for ethnic cleansing”.

Mann is not the first member of the US military to protest against US support for Israel.

In February, Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old US Air Force serviceman, self-immolated outside Israel’s embassy in Washington DC as he screamed “Free Palestine”, in protest against the Biden administration’s Gaza policy. He later died of his injuries.

However, Mann’s letter is notable because he lays out how he wrestled with the notion of military duty and respect for senior officers with his personal opposition to US support for Israel.

“I told myself, I don’t make policy and it’s not my place to question it,” he said, adding that he was sure some colleagues would “feel betrayed”.

He described an environment where few colleagues spoke out about the war in Gaza and US support for Israel. “I felt like I was living in an alternate universe.”

“I now realize the obvious – if I was afraid to voice my concerns, you were too.” He wrote.

Mann’s resignation letter comes as US and Israeli defence ties are under intense scrutiny, with President Biden threatening to withhold offensive arms from Israel over Rafah.

On Friday, the Biden administration released a report stating that there are reasonable grounds to believe Israel used American-supplied weapons “inconsistent” with international humanitarian law but stopped short of issuing a final judgement.