Explainer-What is behind the pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. universities?

(Reuters) - Student protests in the U.S. over the war in Gaza have intensified and expanded over the past week, with a number of encampments now in place at colleges including Columbia, Yale, and New York University. Police have been called in to several campuses to arrest demonstrators.

Here are some details on the protests:

WHAT ARE THE PROTESTERS DEMANDING?

Across campuses where protests have broken out, students have issued calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to U.S. military assistance for Israel, university divestment from arms suppliers and other companies profiting from the war, and an amnesty for students and faculty members who have been disciplined or fired for protesting.

WHO ARE THE PROTESTERS?

Pro-Palestinian protests have drawn students and faculty of various backgrounds, including of Jewish and Muslim faiths. The groups organizing the protests include Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace.

The encampments have also attracted a diverse array of teach-ins, interfaith prayers, and musical performances.

Organizers have widely disavowed violence against pro-Israel counter-protesters, although some Jewish students have said they feel unsafe on campus and unnerved by chants they say are antisemitic. 

WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESPONSE FROM AUTHORITIES?

School administrators and local law enforcement have cracked down on the protests.

Columbia and the affiliated Barnard College have suspended dozens of students involved in the protests. More than 100 protesters have been arrested at Columbia, where University President Minouche Shafik called in New York Police to clear the encampment a day after she testified before a U.S. House of Representatives committee. She said the encampment violated rules against unauthorized protests.

Yale police arrested more than 60 protesters on Monday, after giving them "several opportunities to leave and avoid arrest," according to the university. 

The New York Police Department said officers arrested 120 people at NYU late on Monday. University officials said they requested their intervention because protesters had not dispersed and were "interfering with the safety and security of our community."

WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT ON REGULAR CAMPUS LIFE?

After holding all classes virtually on Monday, Columbia announced most courses would be offered with both virtual and in-person attendance options for the rest of the semester. Shafik said in a statement that she would not permit any group to disrupt graduation.

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, canceled in-person classes until Wednesday after students barricaded themselves in an administrative building and demanded the school disclose all ties and holdings with Israel and cut ties with Israeli universities.

The University of Michigan said it would allow free expression and peaceful protest at its early May graduation ceremonies but would stop "substantial disruption."

HOW ARE POLITICAL LEADERS RESPONDING?

Democratic President Joe Biden, who has been criticized by the protesters for supplying funding and weapons to Israel, told reporters on Monday that he condemned both "antisemitic protests" and "those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians."

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the 2024 election, called the campus protest situation "a mess" as he walked into the second day of his criminal trial in New York. 

(Reporting by Julia Harte in New York, Kanishka Singh in Washington, Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, and Andrew Hay in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)