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How US universities are trying to muzzle pro-Palestine protests before they begin

The academic semester has kicked off at many US universities this week, and schools are working in a myriad of ways to tamp out the pro-Palestinian and student-led demonstrations that roiled the country this past spring.

As students make their way back to campus, familiarising themselves with class schedules and reconnecting with university life, administrations have been working - often in conjunction with the police - to weed out the possibility of a repeat of last semester when university authorities were blindsided by the scale and potency of pro-Palestinan protests that swept campuses. 

Several campuses morphed into battle zones with police, often resorting to brutal tactics on unarmed student protesters in scenes streamed live for the world to see.

The efforts to halt the regrowth of the movement have materialised in several different ways.

Read more: How US universities are trying to muzzle pro-Palestine protests before they begin

Protesters gather as students and families arrive for convocation, in front of a main gated entrance of Columbia University in New York City on 25 August 2024.