Princeton University students are now heading into their second night of protests over the war in Gaza calling it a solidarity Sittin choreographed with dozens of other college campuses across the us where the pro Palestinian demonstrations have sparked a revolt and hundreds of arrests from Texas to California and the epicenter in Manhattan higher ed administrations are in a showdown over free speech and the Israel Hamas War the demonstrations have now spread overseas to in Paris Sydney and Cairo student groups including those at Princeton and Montclair State University are largely calling for the same actions from their universities to cut ties with Israeli companies academic institutions and in some cases the country itself Ted Goldberg is in Princeton where counter-protesters are now calling on the school to cut ties with Iran Ted Briana day two of the Princeton encampment has gotten off to a quieter start especially compared to yesterday when two graduate students were arrested in the morning for putting up a tent and then refusing to take it down there are also more counter-protesters here today supporting Israel the folks camping out here say they'll stay as long as it takes until Princeton divests from companies associating with Israel with a little bit of help from the community I think that's been really heartening to see that's kept us going um so many people have come out cooked for us brought us supplies um and so I think actually morale right now is really good and we're committed to staying here until divestment this student who requested that we don't use her name says she's not leaving maash lawn anytime [Music] soon very she's one of many students who vow not to be moved campus police watched on today but did not arrest anyone even the people who slept outside this is definitely the first time I have slept overnight in an outdoor space on Princeton campus definitely an unusual situation um but we're here in Collective solidarity we're holding this space and it felt like a really meaningful moment of community to have PE so many people staying here overnight together these students are calling for a lot more than just divestment they're demanding Princeton begin affiliating with Palestinian institutions call for a ceasefire in Gaza and then study abroad programs in Israel just outside the campus walls a different group of protesters also made noise not on our campus not in our name not on our campus not in our name Princeton you should be ashamed these folks say schools like Princeton should be ashamed of hiring professors affiliated with Iran it's a different angle from the students at the encampment but students like Jared Stone say there are similarities with all that we're seeing across the country on various college campuses like Columbia and even Princeton it's more important now than ever before to stand up for what is right to stand up against the brutal terrorist bloody Iranian regime and to stand side by side shoulder Tosh shoulder with the Iranian people at this hour of need this protest centers on one Princeton professor in particular fire Sayed mavan who is currently under investigation by Congress for his ties with the Iranian regime uh and his role in the 1992 bombing of a restaurant in Berlin Germany that targeted Iranian dissident German uh press back then mentioned that according to the Court's documents he had a role in uh the assassinations but to go forward with it and to Indi him was a political decision based on the relationship that were existed back then between the Iranian government and European countries basically that never happened mavan was never indicted and he's denied these charges in the past I reached out for an interview or statement for the story and I didn't hear back Arash salai is the American representative for the Democratic party of Iranian Kurdistan and he says people have been angry about mavan since he started working at Princeton 15 years ago we have festing we've been talking to members of Congress to uh members of uh Academia but unfortunately I don't know how he has been uh able to actually manage to stay here for a long time some of the crowd traveled a long way to get to Central Jersey who are coming from all around the country I mean from uh even Nashville Upstate New York all all over the country and they're gathered here we believe it's imperative for the such an Institute that actually because of the because of the values they hold to uh take an action uh and expel him as soon as possible because otherwise what kind of example are we going to set for our future Generations We're All in This Collective effort to hold the Iranian regime accountable to make sure that what they do and their malign influence on University campuses like Princeton uh is not ignored and so we're here to hold them to account and to make sure that they hear us loud and clear Princeton is hearing a lot of people loud and clear these days while the mavan protest only lasted a few hours the encampment looks like it could last through the weekend with commencement coming up on Tuesday in Princeton I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight News [Music]