In Texas, pro-Palestine university protesters clash with state leaders

Austin, Texas – “It didn’t feel real.” That’s how Alishba Javaid, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, describes the moment when she saw roughly 30 state troopers walk onto the campus lawn.

Javaid and hundreds of her classmates had gathered on the grass, in the shadow of the campus’s 94-metre limestone tower, as part of a walkout against Israel’s war in Gaza.

They were hoping that their school would divest from manufacturers supplying weapons to Israel. Instead, law enforcement started to appear in increasing numbers.

By Javaid’s count, the state troopers joined at least 50 fellow officers already in place, all dressed in riot gear. The protest had been peaceful, but nerves were at a high. The troopers continued their advance.

“That was the first moment I was genuinely scared,” said Javaid, 22.

Dozens of students were ultimately arrested on April 24, as the officers attempted to disperse the protesters. Footage of the clashes between police and demonstrators quickly spread online, echoing images from other campus protests across the United States.

Yet, Texans face a unique challenge, as they contend with a far-right state government that has sought to limit protests against Israel.

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In 2017, Governor Greg Abbott signed a law that prohibits government entities from working with businesses that boycott Israel, and the state has since taken steps to tighten that law further.

Abbott has also cast the current protests as “hate-filled” and “anti-Semitic”, amplifying misconceptions about demonstrators and their goals.

In addition, a state law went into effect earlier this year that forced public universities to shutter their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices.

Multiple students and employees told Al Jazeera that campuses have become less safe for people of colour as a result of the law, which forced the departure of staff DEI advocates.

‘Using violence to subvert minorities’

The violence has continued at University of Texas campuses as students press forward with their protests.

On the final day of class, April 29, police used pepper spray and flash-bang devices to clear a crowd at the Austin campus, while dozens more were encircled by troopers and dragged away screaming.

Hiba Faruqi, a 21-year-old student, said her knee “just kept bleeding” after she was knocked over during a pushing-and-shoving match between students and police.

Student protesters applaud one another as they are released from the Travis County Jail in Austin, Texas, on April 30 [Nuri Vallbona/Reuters]

Yet she counts herself lucky for not sustaining worse injuries. It was surreal, she said, to think that her own university called in state troopers — and then had to deploy medical personnel to assist students who were hurt.

“There’s a racist element people don’t want to talk about here,” she said. “There’s a xenophobic element people don’t want to acknowledge. There are more brown protesters, which maybe emboldens the police to do things a certain way.”

As calls for divestment continue, students, lawyers and advocates told Al Jazeera they have been forced to navigate scepticism and outright hostility from the Texas government.

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“Texas is known for using violence to subvert minorities,” Faruqi said. “The reason this is shaking people this time is because it’s not working.”

Scrutiny over university endowments

Many of the protests have zeroed in on the University of Texas’s endowment, a bank of funds designed to support its nine campuses over the long term.

The University of Texas system has the largest public education endowment in the country, worth more than $40bn.

Some of that money comes from investments in weapons and defence contractors, as well as aerospace, energy and defence technology companies with deep ties to Israel.

ExxonMobil, for example, is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the system’s investments, and the company has supplied Israel with fuel for its fighter jets.

Those ties have fuelled the protests across the state’s public university campuses, including a May 1 demonstration at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Fatima — who only shared her first name with Al Jazeera, out of fear for her safety — was among the demonstrators. She wiped sweat from her brow as a young child led the crowd of about 100 in a series of chants: “Free, free, free Palestine!”

The divestment protests have largely been peaceful, Fatima explained, raising her voice to be heard above the noise.

Palestinian doctor dies in Israeli prison

A Palestinian doctor has died in an Israeli prison after more than four months in detention, Palestinian prisoner associations have said.

Dr Adnan Al-Bursh, 50, was the head of orthopaedics at al-Shifa Hospital.

The Israeli prison service confirmed that a statement published on 19 April about a prisoner who was detained for national security reasons and had died in Ofer prison was Dr Al-Bursh.

No details were given on the cause of death, and the prison service said the incident was being investigated.

But the Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups said in a joint statement on Thursday that Dr Al-Bursh’s death was an “assassination” and his body still remained in Israeli custody.

Dr Al-Bursh was the head of orthopaedics at Gaza’s largest medical facility, al-Shifa hospital, which has been raided several times by Israeli armed forces.

He was temporarily working at Al-Awada hospital in north Gaza when he was detained by Israeli forces.

Colleagues have paid tribute to the late surgeon, describing him as “compassionate” and “heroic”.

Al-Shifa’s director, Dr Marwan Abu Saada, said the news of his death was difficult for the human soul to bear.

Another colleague, Dr Suhail Matar, called Dr Al-Bursh “the safety valve” for every orthopaedic department in all of Gaza’s hospitals.

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“It is rare that you meet a person like him in your life, because this doctor worked all his life with dedication and used to make tremendous efforts at the expense of himself,” Dr Matar told BBC Arabic’s Gaza Lifeline programme.

He described his late colleague as someone who was never tired of working, and who was “loved by everyone and his smile never went away”.

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the West Bank and Gaza, said she was “extremely alarmed” by news of Dr Al-Bursh’s death and called on the diplomatic community to take concrete measures to protect Palestinians.

Meanwhile White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden has discussed with Israel the importance of protecting humanitarian workers in Gaza.

“The president has said very clearly that when it comes to people who are… in Gaza providing that all-important care, humanitarian aid, humanitarian care, they need to be protected. They should be protected. And so certainly those conversations are going to continue,” she said.

“We believe that certainly… the Israeli government has taken efforts to do just that and has taken into account our concerns and so we’re going to continue to have those conversations but it is heartbreaking to hear.”

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said in a statement that Dr Al-Bursh’s death meant that the total number of medical workers who had been killed by Israel since the 7 October attack now stands at 496.

It added that 1,500 others had been wounded while 309 had been arrested.

Medical facilities are protected under international law, but Israel says Hamas uses them as cover for military operations – something Hamas denies.

The BBC has approached the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment.

Palestinian doctor dies in Israeli prison

BBC