Iranian universities open doors to Western students expelled over pro-Gaza demos

By Maryam Qarehgozlou

Policemen clad in riot gear have in recent weeks swarmed university campuses across the US, using rubber bullets, chemical irritants and pepper balls to clear out peaceful pro-Gaza encampments.

These on-campus solidarity protests, which started at New York’s Columbia University in mid-April, have expanded to many other universities in the US as well as many European countries.

Footage posted on social media platforms shows police descending violently on university campuses cuffing and hauling away students and faculty members protesting against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and demanding their universities to divest from companies supplying arms to Israel.

Since Israel launched its military aggression against the besieged Palestinian territory in October last year, university campuses across the US have been simmering with anger and outrage over the Israeli regime’s war, which has so far killed nearly 34,800 Palestinians, most of them children and women.

Columbia University became the driving force behind these mass protests in the US over the Israeli war on Gaza, where the police force moved in to remove the encampment weeks ago.

On April 17, students at Columbia University and its affiliate, Barnard College, set up an encampment on the campus even as university president Nemat Shafik was summoned by US Congress.

During the congressional hearing, Shafik said “anti-Semitism has no place on our campus.”

The very next day. she called New York City police to the campus to disband the protest encampment which led to the mass arrest of more than 100 student protesters.

Inspired by demonstrators at Columbia University, protests and around-the-clock encampments popped up in colleges and universities across the country.

Emory University, University of Southern California, Georgetown University, George Washington University, University of Texas, New York University, Harvard University, Emerson University and Yale University are some of the campuses where the largest protests have been seen in recent weeks, with students denying police crackdowns and threats of “disciplinary actions.”

According to a tally by the Associated Press, nearly 2,500 people have been arrested at about 50 campuses since April 18, based on its reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement.

In addition to mass arrests, university administrations, at the behest of pro-Israel lobbies, have also responded with other measures, including suspensions and evictions from universities.

Iran offers scholarships to expelled students

Last week, the president of Shiraz University in the southern province of Fars, offered scholarships to European and American students who have been expelled for taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campuses.

“Students and even professors who have been expelled or threatened with expulsion can continue their studies at Shiraz University and I think that other universities in Shiraz as well as Fars Province are also prepared [to provide the conditions],” Mohammad Moazzeni said.

Moazzeni also criticized Western police's “autocratic methods” and said the “excessive use of violence” in order to contain this “sweeping movement” and threatening to expel the students from universities and hinder their employment in the future signal the “decline of the Global Arrogance.”

Later, at least twelve other prestigious Iranian universities followed suit and offered free tuition to students suspended or expelled from their universities for staging anti-Israeli protests.

Shahid Beheshti University, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran University of Science and Technology, and Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research, all based in Iran’s capital, Tehran, and Razi University in the western province of Kermanshah, as well as Ferdowsi University in the northwestern city of Mashhad, were among higher education institutions offering scholarships to these students.

Mahmoud Reza Aghamiri, president of Shahid Beheshti University, in a statement, offered students who participated in “anti-Zionist protests” fully-funded scholarships and said the university would cover all expenses, including full tuition fees, accommodation and living costs throughout the degree course.

More Iran universities offer to welcome those expelled from US colleges

More Iranian universities offer to welcome those expelled from US colleges for protesting over the ongoing US-backed Israeli genocide against the Gaza Strip.

Abdollah Motamedi, president of Allameh Tabataba’i University, described anti-Israeli protests in Western countries as “unprecedented” and “auspicious,” and offered scholarships and Persian Language programs to pro-Palestinian students expelled by their universities over pro-Palestine positions.

Hashem Dadashpour, a deputy science minister for student affairs, announced that Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology has endorsed the decision announced by Iranian universities.

“Iranian universities are listed among good-ranking universities and offer graduate and post-graduate programs in any disciplines students prefer to study,” he stated.

Ali Khatibi, a deputy science minister for resource development and management, also said Iranian universities are “welcoming all those expelled or suspended from US universities with NO tuition fees.”

Iranian deputy president for parliamentary affairs Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini also welcomed the “initiative” and drew a comparison between US campus protests and 2022 West-backed riots in Iran that followed the death of 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini.

He said while the Western governments “fully supported” the riots in Iran, tried to stoke unrest in the country, pushed the “regime change” agenda and accused Iran’s police of a “violent crackdown” are now mounting a crackdown against peaceful protesters who demand an end to genocide in Gaza.

“Those same people are now violently suppressing protesters and arresting hundreds of students and staff, and attempting to cover up the whole story and regarding it as an internal affair and a trivial matter,” he said

According to Hosseini, the decision to offer scholarships to expelled American or European students is in line with “promoting justice” and the fight against violating people’s right to free speech.

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