Over 100 Columbia students were arrested during the protests for Palestine while the University administration responded with expulsions and suspension for life of courses.
Columbia University announced it was canceling live classes on Monday. just 24 hours after the arrests of more than 100 students who refused to leave the impromptu occupation in the courtyard they had carried out, calling for a cessation of hostilities in Gaza.
The president of Nemat University Minouche Shafik announced via email – which was also posted on the institution’s website – that the courses will be held via distance learning “to ease the crisis”. He commented that a team of professors, deans and faculty members will work together to find a solution. He also said that the opinion of the students will be asked “to return to mutual respect”, as reported by Newsweek. However, the University did not respond to the site’s question about the actions against students.
The tensions in the Columbia hearths have been going on for six months, that is, from the beginning of Israel’s operation in Gaza, officially against Hamas. The ongoing hostilities have resulted in the deaths of at least 34,000 Palestinians so far, according to the Associated Press.
The backlash in Columbia peaked last week when students created a “Gaza Solidarity Camp” on campus to protest Israel’s continued military action but also “Columbia’s continued financial investment in companies that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine “, as they noted in their statement. The university called the NYPD to remove the protesters students last Thursday, with 100 of them being arrested.
Management reported that they had warned the students and that “the dissidents are violating a number of statutory regulations governing the Institution”. Police also arrested Isra Hirsi, daughter of Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
The University announced that it had suspended the student status of the pro-Palestine protesters until further notice, however the students set up their tents again. The operation against the students came after Republicans accused Columbia’s administration of “fostering anti-Semitism.” Shafik herself said that “some students used anti-Semitic language”.
Meanwhile, a rabbi associated with the university called on Jewish students to leave the campus due to the rise of “extreme anti-Semitism and anarchy”, citing “hate speech” and “incitement to violence”.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates said that “incitement to violence and hatred against Jewish college students is anti-Semitic and unacceptable and has no place at any university or anywhere in the United States.”
Protesting Columbia students: “Media abuses us, we will not be complicit in the massacre”
The students, however, responded to the White House, late Sunday, saying in a statement that they will continue to peacefully demonstrate “against the blockade of Gaza and the genocide” and that they are “disappointed” with how the media is handling the issue “which focuses on a minority of people who do not represent us.”
“We were abused by the media, the police arrested us, the university kicked us out. We have knowingly put ourselves at risk because we can no longer be complicit with Columbia and its management funneling our tuition to companies that profit off death. We are united by our love for Justice and demand that our voices be heard against the mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.
Images of children crying over the bodies of their dead parents, images of families begging for food, images of doctors operating without anesthesia, horrify us every day. We strongly reject any form of hatred or intolerance and remain vigilant against outsiders who attempt to disrupt the solidarity forged here among students, Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs, Jews, Blacks and pro-Palestinian colleagues who represent the diversity of our country,” the protestors’ statement said. students.
Tensions within schools
Students continue to ask their university to end its partnerships in Tel Aviv, however, lawsuits have been filed against the administration “for not protecting Jewish students”, which contributed to the final decisions to activate the expulsions, as reported by the Washington Post in its report. David M. Schizer, a law professor, emphasized that Columbia is an example of inclusion, but since Israel’s invasion of Gaza there have been isolated incidents against students of Israeli descent.
Students said some student clubs – not necessarily politically charged – became inhospitable to Israeli students as “broad alliances were formed that support Palestinian groups”. Those protesting for Palestine, argue from their side that their positions are being distorted and that “comments against the state of Israel are not anti-Semitic”.
Last month, the New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal filed a lawsuit against Columbia’s administration, saying the university’s decision this fall to suspend two student groups, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace; it is illegal and predisposes to censorship.
The Columbia Task Force on Anti-Semitism issued its first report last month, recommending stricter enforcement of existing rules “to allow demonstrations in certain central areas, but not to disturb classrooms or dormitories” at schools.
It is noted that students from the universities of Harvard, North Carolina, Ohio and Boston are organizing their own demonstrations for a cease-fire in Gaza, at a time when Israel is determined to intervene in Rafah where thousands of civilians displaced from other areas are trapped.
