Tensions surge at US universities as students rally over Israel-Hamas war

It was an unprecedented scene. Columbia University, located in the heart of Manhattan, took the extraordinary move of closing its doors to the public last week as dueling protests erupted simultaneously on its lawn.

Hundreds of protesters, representing pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli student groups, clashed in front of the stately colonnade of Butler Library on October 12. Three helicopters hovered overhead, and rows of New York Police Department officers stood ready to intervene if tensions boiled over into violence.

But Columbia was hardly the only school in the United States to convulse with demonstrations during the past week.

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