In Amherst on May 8, police arrested 132 peaceful protesters at UMass. The protesters were calling for the university to stop supporting Israel's war on Gaza. The UMass professors' union president said he supports the protesters. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author Colson Whitehead responded to the arrests by canceling his planned speech at the UMass graduation ceremony, set for May 18. Whitehead also won a MacArthur fellowship (the annual award is now $800,000) and the National Book Award.
The protesters have a web page at:
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