What the pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses actually want

College campuses across America have been shaken by unrest that has resulted in clashes with police, shut down some classrooms and captured the attention of the nation.

College campuses across America have been shaken by unrest that has resulted in clashes with police, shut down some classrooms and captured the attention of the nation. Although much of the initial focus has been on antisemitic incidents and how university officials and police are responding to the demonstrations, all of this raises a fundamental question: What do the pro-Palestinian protesters actually want? The specific demands of the protesters vary somewhat from school to school yet the central demand is that universities divest from companies linked to Israel or businesses that are profiting off its war with Hamas. Universities have largely refused to budge on this demand, and experts say divestment may not have a significant impact on the companies themselves. Other common threads include demanding universities disclose their investments, sever academic ties with Israeli universities and support a ceasefire in Gaza. “We are not going anywhere until our demands are met,” Khymani James, a student at Columbia University, said during a news briefing Wednesday. Protest movements at some universities are also calling for school officials to protect free speech and spare students from being punished for participating in the protests.