♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by...

woman: a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor get to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well planned. man: cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor. diverse destinations. and immersive experiences. a world of leisure... and british style. all with cunard's "white-star" service. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news"

. i'm christian fraser, and this . is "the context." >> what are university officis waiting on? what do they need to see before they stand up to terrorist sympathizers? that is exactly what they are. >> there were fights breaking out and there were moments where there was a bunch of pepper spray ing on. >> in the middle of the night, we received by nypd -- we were seiged by nypd, assaulted, brutally arrested. >> they have a right as long as it is peaceful. forcibly taking over a building is not peaceful. ♪ >> more trouble at the u.s.

universities as a crackdown begins on pro-palestinian protests. 300 people have been arrested in new york after police were called in. we will hear from a republican congressman. also, the father of eight -- father of a girl who died while being smuggled to the u.k. the banking system that supports this trade in human misery. very good evening. the confrontations between pro-palestinian protesters and the police are continuing on campuses across the united states. 12 protesters were arrested this afternoon at the university of wisconsin in madison as police cleared an encampment there. tensions are also high in los angeles were overnight protesters attack pro-palestinian demonstrators on the campus. footage from the scene shows people using sticks and polls to

attack a makeshift barricade put up around the encampment. police eventually responded to what the university vice chancellor described as horrific acts of violence. there were scuffles in new york where police arrested dozens of pro-palestinian demonstrators who were holed up in a building at columbia university. and they removed a protest encampment. a total of 300 people were detained at columbia and the city college elsewhere in the city. the speaker of the u.s. house of representatives mike johnson said the authorities needed to be called in. >> what are university officials waiting on? what do they need to see before they stand up to these terrorist sympathizers? and that is exactly what they are. what is worse though is that columbia's choice to ignore the safety of their jewish students and appease anti-semites has inspired even more hateful protests to pop up across the country. what we are seeing right now is people wave hezbollah flags and

hamas flags. there are homemade signs supporting what happened on october 7. it is outrageous. christian: the president of columbia university has been under immense political pressure in recent days and has appealed for aperiod of, -- a period of calm. in a statement they said, we made the decision early in the morning this was a law enforcement matter. the nypd were best positioned to determine and execute an appropriate response. this is not confined solely to new york. protesting began organically some weeks ago and has now spread to 20 different states and over 30 universities. there were dozens of arrests at the university of texas this week. protests from coast-to-coast, riot police on the grounds of ivy league universities, yale, harvard, berkeley, george washington university in d.c. it is spreading into a national movement with protests

reappearing in places where they have previously been cleared. so let's go first to our correspondent who said this from ucla. >> and has been a political minefield for universities over the last few weeks trying to strike the right balance between upholding free speech, protecting students on campus who just want to go about their day and dealing with the claims of anti-semitism from some jewish students as well. all of those tensions really boiled over here last night. it seems what happened is around 11:00 st night. here, the pro-palestinian demonstration, the encampment here, there was a surge of counter protesters. that led to clashes between the groups of rival protesters. there were wooden barricades that were picked up and used as weapons. there was fireworks thrown over the crowd. and there had been a relatively small number of police on-site at that moment. so the university called in the los angeles police department, the lapd, and of course they

suddenly rushed to try to break up this violence, but by then it had really escalated. it ain't number of hours to separate the protesters -- took a number of hours to separate the protesters. it happened outside of the mn library of ucla but now there is a demonstration by pro-israel supporters separated by certain iron railing. things feel a lot calmer now but it is a strange feeling for a university campus. students and teachers arrived here today. some of them had driven distances and were frustrated to find classes where canceled. many students would have taken midterm exams and they were here for that so they stayed up all might revising the night before to come in and find nothing happening here today. christian: from west coast to east coast, our correspondent is at columbia university this

evening for us. that statement from the university president is rather interesting because what we have seen is where police have been taking down encampments, protests havsprung up again. and now she is appealing for that period of calm. it remains to be seen whether she will get it. >> at the moment, christian, it is pretty calm and peaceful, as calm as new york city can be i guess. still noisy but nothing compared to what it was last night when new york police seemed to carry out this coordinated raid on encampments in different parts of the city. there were several universities here -- there are several universities here. columbia is the main hub, the focal point for the nationwide protests. other encampments have been inspired by the pro-palestinian supporters here. the president has been under huge pressure from right-wing

politicians who say she is not doing enough to crack on these protests and also from many of the student protesters themselves who are really angry at what they say has been a heavy-handed approach. the police did go in on april 18 if you remember, and there was a fear by some students it could happen again. there was this deadline sent on monday for 2:00 p.m. for them to clear out. kind of passed without incident, but then we saw the raids happened last night. e president is saying, look, i am not against your calls. i am against your actions. and i think what really it came down to was there is a distinction between protesting and disruption. and when we saw the building being taken over, that was the point the police felt -- sorry, the president felt the police had to come in. christian: when you say there is a distinction between protesting and disruption, is that how republicans see it?

i listened to senators this afternoon, and they did not seem to be making that distinction. people are entitled under the first amendment rights to go out and protest about a war they have concerns about. and yet they were talking about little gaza and supporters of how mass -- hamas, all being characterized as one. >> which the pro-palestinian supporters say is not reflective of their movement. i spent time in the encampments speaking to them. there were a lot fewer supporters amongst them. some of the students made a point to me about how really conservative politician, republicans particularly, have been for years going on about free speech on campus, free speech on campus, and cracking down on canceled culture. but they say -- cancel culture, but they say it is because they did not like this particular speech. the concept of free speech in america, they are allowed to protest.

they are allowed to peacefully protest. lots of them are very angry. they are also surprised at the right wing politicians's view on this. what many of them are frustrated by his they feel the president caved into that. the president was in front of congress a couple weeks ago, and she was questioned by republicans over what she is doing to crackdown on anti-semitism, but look, students say the protests are not -- it is worth mentioning this was going on before october 7. there is a long history of people here protesting against the israeli government and israeli policies. but for now, the protests have abated. it remains to be seen if they will pop up again. christian: just looking at these pictures of ucla, these people that are attacking the encampment, are they students or are they professional agitators

and people who are there as a focal point? there are people from wider los angeles getting involved in this. >> this is one of the points that certainly here the new york city mayor has made. he said there are these outside agitators that have come in and caused this trouble. but the students here do not buy it. they say they want to see evidence of that. because they feel that the whole movement has been tarred by these accusations. the police have not given us any information on who these individuals could be. so at ucla there is also speculation and reportshat again it is outsiders that have come in maybe from different groups to try to cause trouble for each side. and that extremists i guess on both sides are not representative of how students on both sides feel. but as i say, we have not been

given details yet on who exactly the police thinks that these outside agitators are. christian: where is joe biden on this? what is the president saying about the protests? it is a difficult one for him because the youth vote is very important with him and his coalition. >> president biden has been saying that students have the right to free speech but has also been critical of the pro-palestinian protests, saying he completely condemns anti-semitism. the movement has denied that. and again today, the white house spokeswoman released a statement saying people are allowed to protest. free speech is allowed. it is when you start obstructing. it is a difficult spot for him. it is a very difficult -- very unexpected challenge. this could really gain momentum, at worst.

the state of the union address in march, his motorcade was rerouted from the white house to the capitol because of pro-palestinian demonstrators who staged a sit in on the road. i asked a lot of the students if this is going to affect their vote come november. many of them are not committed to that. they said they do not want to think too far ahead to the election and what they are trying to concentrate on is raising a voice for people suffering in gaza. christian: thank you for your time this evening outside of columbia university. let's focus a little more on the reaction from the white house. our north america editor sarah smith has been focusing on those difficulties that have been thrown up for president biden. >> it is difficult for president biden to work out where to come down on this. his party is deeply split. he has representatives who are very supportive of the student protests and some who are very

critical. he knows he is at risk of losing votes of hundreds of thousands of young activists, pro-palestinian protesters who think he has not been critical enough of israel and its conduct in the war on gaza. at the same time, there are many moderate swing voters watching with some dismay what is happening across america, and they would like to hear him be more critical of the widespread disruption these protests are causing. it is a very fraught political question for a president who is just six months away from his attempt to get reelected. christian: sarah smith. we what is going on in the middle east currently after a short break. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news. ♪

christian: welcome back. with what is happening in new

york currently this hour, we have been reporting on the program that harvey weinstein will be retried. he is back in court today in new york. what of his rate convictions of course is overturned last week. the state appeals court overturned his conviction on several allegations of rape and sexual assault. his lawyers claim he did not receive a fair trial as the jury were allowed to hear unrelated evidence from witnesses. these are the first images we have seen incidentally of him in court. he is still being held in prison on a separate conviction in los angeles. but these are life pictures from outside the courthouse -- live pictures fm outside the courthouse. she has been representing many women in the cases so let's listen in. >> based on her testimony, the judge sentenced the defendant to 20 years of the 23 year sentence

for criminal sexual assault. it was forcible. the other three yearsere for the other victim. where there was a conviction of third-degree rape. the other courtroom today. mimi is not in new york at this time. so she is still thinking about it. and she certainly will let the prosecutors know when she reaches a decision. it is not an easy one for her. having said that, as to the new york court of appeals decision, obviously i do not agree with it. i respectfully would be with the dissent.

i am also licensed to practice, and practice in california and was present at the california trial. christian: gloria allred speaking outside the court in manhattan. in february 2020, harvey weinstein was convicted of sexually assaulting his former production assistant miriam haleyi in 2006 and raping an aspiring actress in 2013. he appeared in court today in a wheelchair. the district aorney has been considering the appeal court's decision just the other week and has come to a decision they will retry the case obviously with different evidence this time. some of theharacter evidence they brought it will not be permitted in that we trial. but harvey weinstein will return to prison because of another conviction secured against him in los angeles.

let's talk about the wider situation in the middle east. the white house would ideally like a breakthrough on the cease-fire. that is what antony blinken has been talking about in jerusalem today trying to broker a deal, and he has told both sides now is the time. he said the deal on the table is hugely generous to hamas. we expect a response in the next 24 hours. it reportedly has a 48 hour cease-fire and the release of israeli hostages in exchange for many more palestinian prisoners. mr. blinken has been pushing the israelis on aid today. he was calling for aid deliveries to be accelerated. let's take a listen. >> given the need, given the immense need in gaza, it needs to be accelerated. it needs to be sustained. and as we focus on all of the necessary inputs, the number of trucks that are moving, what

matters the most is the impact. and we are focused on measuring that, making sure that people are actually getting what they need. christian: israel's opposition leader has told secretary blinken israel's prime minister has no excuse to not support the cease-fire, and if some right-wing members of his government resigned in protest, he says he would step into ensure the prime minister still has a majority. in terms of netanyahu, he told the americans he would not accept a deal that includes ending the war in gaza and will go ahead with his offensive in rafah, which the u.s. opposes. the question is if hamas will accept the terms on offer. oliver is back with as, a former hostage negotiator. oliver, you are very welcome to the program. where do you see the sticking points right now in this offer that is before hamas?

>> i think although israel has made concessions in those concessions have been allowing the people in the south to return to their homes in the north as well as the concession of withdrawing troops from gaza, the details of those still have to be agreed upon and i can imagine that is a very difficult time in the negotiations. but i think the main sticking point is that hamas have the need of a permanent cease-fire. israel is not prepared to give them that. the other thing we talked about before is this double objective. netanyahu on one hand to say i will donything to get the hostages back. on the other hand, i want to see the total demise of hamas. i think it is that contradiction that is actually in any negotiation difficult. plus, the continuous comment on what is going on.

i don't think we are giving the qatari negotiators a real opportunity to have time out of the camera to discuss these things because every day even twice a day we are getting a comment on what will happen or what should happen. christian: when the secretary of state talks about it being a generous offer, the number of hostages that would come back are something like 30, may be less than 30 -- maybe less than 30. is there any detail on how many palestinian prisoners would be released in turn? oliver: i understand the numbers were released from previous negotiations, but the problem i have is that while all of this is going on, t life-changing circumstances for gazans, 2.3 million gazans, what they are facing every is being distracted

from. the latest rounds of negotiations have started and several hundred people have died and god knows how many other people have had their lives changed it revocably -- changed. i think we should be calling for a minute cease-fire for the simple reason, for the sake of the hostages, their families, but equally the 2.3 million that are suffering in gaza at the moment. i think the lack of humanity at the moment is shocking the people in gaza. that is what we are getting. the fear of being neglected and forgotten. they are wondering, what is the future? christian: the u.s. administration has sounded pretty bullish on what would flow from any cease-fire. clearly they see it as a bridgehead to something that might make a big difference to

the situation in the middle east. they are talking about normalization of ties with saudi arabia, between saudi arabia and israel, and the arab states vying into a future palestinian state. do you think from the negotiations in jerusalem they have a partner in this current israeli government? oliver: from the start, we were very critical. even going back to the trump period where the saudis were very critical, particularly of prime minister netanyahu and his secretary, the foreign secretary, who were talking up the normalization. they felt that was creating a problem. i understood from our contacts with the saudis they were saying you can only have normalization if you have the establishment of a palestinian state. we have to in all of this region distinguish between the desires of the government and actually the reality on the street.

and i honestly think that the majority in the surrounding countries, the gulf region, would not accept the full-scale modernization that is desirable unless there is an end of occupation at a viable palestinian state. christian: just click on the 'n/v//'u)$)5.gvcease-fire, we we response just quick -- just quick on the cease-fire, we wait for the response from hamas. oliver: the problem i come back to, if it is a temporary cease-fire, you still have all of the problems to deal with. it is just giving space to exchange palestinian prisoners to be released and the hostages to be returned where they should be with their families. i don't think it will solve the real permanent issues of gaza. more people are suffering now. nor is it going to resolve the day after.

i think what israel has to consider is, what is their position in the region going to be if they continue the war after an exchange of hostages and prisoners? i think those deeper questions are not being looked at. and truthfully, i think antony blinken's running commentary is not helping at all. i think it is more likely to stiffen resistance rather than encourage an agreement. christn: oliver, thank you for coming on the program. always grateful to you for that. more news to bring you before the break. also please have discharged a man with the merger of a 14-year-old who died in the sword attack on tuesday. the man has been named, a 36-year-old. a further four people including two police officers were seriously injured. he is charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts o

announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by...