LONDON — pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have rocked college campuses in the United States are now gaining traction across the world, from London, Paris and Rome to Sydney, Tokyo, Beirut and beyond.
These protests at schools in major cities around the globe were launched in response to Israel's monthslong military assault on the Gaza Strip, but students told NBC News they were also inspired by the dramatic scenes from colleges in the U.S. in recent weeks.
They have stopped short of the size and intensity of the American encampments, which have stirred fierce debate and clashes with both authorities and pro-Israel counterprotesters. But on Friday, police moved in to clear a sit-in that had closed an elite French university — a sign of the fervent opposition to Israel's actions felt by many young people in countries beyond the U.S., its closest ally.
Video captured by news agencies showed police marching into the Sciences Po university building, with one demonstrator telling NBC News she was among the dozens removed peacefully by authorities.
The office of French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who like President Emmanuel Macron is an alum of Sciences Po, said police had been requested to remove students from 23 sites on French campuses Thursday. “All were evacuated within a few hours," his office said.
'We really felt inspired'
A growing number of protests have also been launched on campuses in the United Kingdom.
"I think we felt really inspired seeing Columbia and just all the universities cropping up with the encampments," Ella Ward, a 21-year-old environmental science student at the University of Leeds in northern England, said in a phone interview Friday.
Around 50 students at Leeds launched their own encampment Wednesday, according to Ward, a representative of Youth Demand, a student-led group calling for a two-way arms embargo on Israel. She said she did not play an active role in organizing the demonstration, but supported the initiative and hoped to see it grow.
"I think Palestine has woken a lot of us up," she said. And seeing students in the U.S. continue to hold mass demonstrations, despite thousands of people facing arrest and suspension from their schools, "it's so important," she said.
Ward said that as of Friday, university administrators at Leeds had not "condemned or condoned" the students' encampment.
The University of Leeds did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
Several other universities in the U.K. have seen pro-Palestinian demonstrations crop up on campuses in recent days, according to photos and videos posted to social media, including University College London, the University of Warwick and Newcastle University.
A spokesperson for the University of Warwick said the protests were being "managed in line with our legal duty and commitment to allow freedom of speech on campus."
University College London and Newcastle University did not respond to requests for comment from NBC News.
Some students feel silenced
Not all students are supportive of the protest action, with some expressing concerns for their safety and others complaining that the demonstrations have impeded their studies.
"While Jewish students remain resilient, encampments are growing on campus and increasing in hostility," said Edward Isaacs, president of the Union of Jewish Students, which represents Jewish students in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
"Universities must have moral clarity in their leadership to ensure campuses are welcoming and inclusive to Jewish students," he said in a statement on X.
Samuel Lejoyeux, who leads the Union of Jewish Students of France, noted that French student protests appeared more peaceful than those in the U.S.
“With the overwhelming majority of students at French universities, including Sciences Po, it is still possible to have a debate. I even think there is an increased hunger for debate,” he told the broadcaster BFM TV, according to Reuters.
Some protests in the U.S. have drawn accusations of antisemitism, which Jewish groups say has been on the rise in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war. Student protesters, who include Jewish participants, have rejected the accusation, with some saying claims of antisemitism are being weaponized against them in an effort to dismiss criticisms of Israel's actions in Gaza.
Elisa Lin, a 21-year-old master's degree student studying public policy at Sciences Po, said she is one of many students who feel caught in the middle of mounting tensions on campus.
"We feel like a few minorities on both sides of the protest, like pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel, kind of took away the mic and we as a silent majority can't really say what we feel without being immediately bashed or insulted," she said.
Earlier this week, she and other students launched an online petition calling for open dialogue between students and the university's administration — as well as for demonstrators to stop blockading the school and for those who have "illegally" occupied buildings on campus to be reprimanded.
As of Friday, just over 1,170 people had signed the petition, launched Monday on Change.org.
“Of course, I do have my own convictions,” said Lin, who is from Paris. “I personally condemn the terrorist attack by the Hamas organization during the 7th of October. I very clearly condemn these attacks, but at the same time, I’m very strongly against the politics of Netanyahu in Israel,” she added.
Some 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack, according to Israeli officials. More than 34,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its operation in the wake of that attack, according to the Palestinian enclave's Health Ministry.
Lin said that she and other students wanted to be able to continue their studies and speak freely about their beliefs without fearing retribution from their peers.
In Australia, hundreds of people took part in demonstrations at the University of Sydney, with tents set up including one emblazoned with the words: “Free Gaza.”
Tensions appeared to rise as demonstrators were confronted by a rally of pro-Israel supporters, Reuters reported.
A university spokesperson told NBC News in a statement Wednesday that school administrators wanted to honor its "long tradition of understanding that peaceful protests can be important demonstrations of free speech." But the spokesperson also said that "exercising such freedom of expression must not inhibit the freedom of other members of our community."
On Thursday, the spokesperson said the school had begun investigating "some alleged behavior on our campus that is completely unacceptable." The spokesperson did not expand on what behavior was alleged to have taken place, but said anyone found to have violated the university's code of conduct could face disciplinary action.
“We’re also cooperating with police investigations where alleged conduct might have broken the law,” the spokesperson said.
Demonstrations have also been reported at schools in other major cities, including Sapienza University of Rome in Italy, the University of Toronto in Canada, the University of Tokyo in Japan, the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University in Lebanon, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Ward, in the U.K., noted that demonstrations at many universities around the world appeared to lack the level of intensity and friction as those seen in the U.S.
She said she believed there were multiple reasons for that, including the level of outrage in the U.S. over Washington’s active role in funding and arming Israel’s military. But she also said the U.S. had gained a reputation on the international stage for cracking down on such protests.
“I’d be very very surprised if the one in Leeds ended with, you know, riot police,” she said. “That’s quite a U.S.-specific thing.”
