Socialist Students’ Front of Bangladesh, along with its President, Mukta Barai, and General Secretary, Raihan Uddin, has expressed solidarity with the ongoing student protests at almost 100 universities across the United States. The protests, which began at Columbia University on April 17, were initially demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza, Palestine, and a severing of all ties with the corporate organizations supporting Israel. The movement has since gained momentum and has spread to over 100 universities, with thousands of students joining. University teachers and staff unions have also joined the protest, along with Jewish students in various universities who are fighting against the war and the ongoing genocide. This student movement is significant since the student protests against the US invasion of Vietnam in the sixties. The movement has spread globally to the UK, France, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, India, Lebanon, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Mexico, and other parts of the world. The progressive students of Bangladesh are also holding various programs to demand an end to Israel's aggression. The Socialist Student Front stands in full solidarity with the worldwide student movement.

Socialist Students' Front expresses deep concern about the ongoing police operations conducted by various university administrations and the US government to suppress student movements over the past two weeks. The students are facing severe oppression, with around 50 police raids carried out in various universities, leading to the arrest of about 2,200 student protesters. Thousands of students have been injured, and gangs have also been deployed to suppress the movement. University administrations have even threatened to ban students associated with the movement from their institutions. The situation has escalated to the point where police have used non-lethal grenades to break into student tents at the University of California, Los Angeles, while there have been shooting incidents at Columbia University. Even teachers have not been spared from the brutality, with several being arrested. At Washington University campus in St. Louis, Missouri, history professor Steve Tamari, who is an expert on the Middle East, was fatally injured during a protest. Video footage shows Professor Tamari being kneed by a police officer and later handcuffed, with the media reporting that he suffered nine broken bones in his hand and wrist. The Socialist Students' Front condemns these violent and inhumane attacks on students and demands the immediate withdrawal of police and riot police from all university campuses. They are also calling for the expulsion of Israel and all its sponsored institutions from the university and urging anti-war students worldwide to unite and speak out against Israel's genocide, occupation, and aggression in Palestine.

Mukta Barai Raihan Uddin

President General Secretary

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