Religious figures, scholars voice solidarity with US students’ pro-Palestine protests

Inspired by protests at Columbia University, hundreds of students have set up protest encampments on at least a dozen college campuses from Massachusetts to California to protest Israel's savage war on the Gaza Strip.

Several schools have called the police on protesters, leading to the arrests of hundreds of students since last week.

On Friday, more than 135 imams and religious scholars signed a statement, saying they admire students' “courageous actions and various sacrifices for Palestine.”

“May your efforts be a beacon of hope and transformation, inspiring further actions towards a just and equitable world,” read the statement.

"The recent escalatory encampments by students on campuses across the country, calling for divestment and solidarity with Palestine, reflect students’ commitment to holding the American university system accountable for aiding and abetting genocide in Gaza.”

They said police violent crackdown on pro-Palestine protesters across the country “signals how support for Israel has reached an impasse, whereby it cannot sustain itself without draconian measures to silence dissent.”

Protests on US college campuses have sparked since Israel launched its brutal military crackdown on the besieged Gaza Strip in early October.

The demonstrations gained momentum since President Joe Biden approved $26 billion in war aid to Israel on Wednesday.

Across the United States, protesters have vowed to keep their demonstrations going unless the leadership of their universities cut financial ties with Israel, whose brutal war has killed more than 34,300 people in the narrow besieged strip.