Scenes of Protests at Columbia, Yale, M.I.T. and N.Y.U.

Demonstrations and arrests spread across some of America’s most influential universities on Monday, as administrators struggled to defuse tensions on campuses over pro-Palestinian protests on Monday.

Nearly 50 people were arrested at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., on Monday morning, following the arrests last week of more than 100 protesters at Columbia University in New York City. The arrests unleashed a wave of activism across other campuses, including M.I.T., the University of Michigan and Stanford University, as protesters sought their universities’ divestment from companies with ties to Israel and a cease-fire in Israel’s war on Gaza.

The flurry of protests has presented a steep challenge for university leaders, as some Jewish students say they have faced harassment and antisemitic comments. Early Monday morning, Columbia announced a same-day shift to online classes because of the protests. Barnard College, across the street, followed suit hours later.

Here are scenes from the protests.

A pro-Israel protester rallies outside of Columbia University’s campus gates.

transcript

Crowd: “We will not stop, we will not rest. Disclose, divest. We will not stop, we will not rest. Disclose, divest.” Crowd: “Free, free, free Palestine. Free, free, free Palestine. Free, free, free Palestine. Free, free, free Palestine. Free, free, free Palestine.”

CreditCredit…Eliza Fawcett for The New York Times

Pro-Palestinian students at Yale University gathered on campus chanting, “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”

Outside Columbia’s gates, officers detained a pro-Palestinian protester, who declined to comply with the instructions of officers.

Protesters at New York University demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, calling for Columbia’s president to “resign in disgrace.”

Students erected encampments at several Boston-area universities, like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to show solidarity with Palestinians and with protesters at Columbia.

A group of demonstrators gathered at a pro-Israel rally outside the main gates of Columbia.

Protesters gathered around Columbia’s College Walk, the main thoroughfare of campus, as a speaker addressed them from the Sundial.

A group of pro-Palestinian students guards their protest site on Columbia’s central campus lawn.

CreditCredit…Angie Wong via Storyful

The “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” dominates Columbia’s South Fields, facing Low Library, the space where commencement exercises are scheduled next month.

Shai Davidai, a Jewish Columbia professor, speaking outside the campus gates on Monday after saying his university ID had been deactivated. A petition, which has garnered more than 10,000 signatures, has sought his termination, accusing him of harassment of pro-Palestinian students.

Students at Yale occupy an intersection near Woodbridge Hall.

CreditCredit…Sarah Maslin Nir/The New York Times

A tent encampment where pro-Palestine protesters gathered in front of the N.Y.U. Stern School of Business on Monday.

Sunday, April 21

Protesters rallied outside Columbia’s gates. Some protesters, unaffiliated with the school, made antisemitic comments toward Jewish students.

Thursday, April 18

More than 100 Pro-Palestinian activists were arrested last week when Columbia’s president said she had taken the “extraordinary step” to call in the police “because these are extraordinary circumstances.”