Alcinoos Ioannidis experienced the events at Columbia about Gaza up close – “I saw the arrest of 108 students”

Alcinoos Ioannidis lived through the upheaval at American universities, where students have started demonstrations, demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in them experiencing an unprecedented wave of repression from the authorities.

The Greek Cypriot singer, songwriter and composer who is in the US for a series of concerts announced in a post on Facebook that the concert scheduled to take place in Columbia was canceled as after the demonstration and the entry of the police into the university, Columbia banned the entrance to the campus, classes are held online, the university operates with security personnel and its events are suspended.

“I apologize to those listeners who suffered”

In fact, as he mentions, even though he believed that “singing should never stop, the above measures made it impossible to hold the concert”.

Alcinoos Ioannidis in his sensational post also mentions how he experienced the events of the last few days and points out that he saw “the ‘occupation’ of the campus by the students, the entry of the police into it (the first since 1968) and the arrest of 108 students after by order of the president of the university”.

“I also saw the non-stop, 24-hour protests on and off campus, with the slogans, Palestinian flags and headscarves you see all over the city, and today there was a protest rally of hundreds of Columbia professors in support of their students. At the same time, there were 47 arrests of students at Yale, while protests are taking place at several other universities (eg Berkeley, Boston University, MIT, University of California, NYU, University of North Carolina),” he adds.

The post in detail

“Columbia Concert Canceled, 4/22/2024

The last few days have been quite special in New York. I live next door to Columbia and watched the events closely. I saw the “occupation” of the campus by the students, the entry of the police into it (the first since 1968) and the arrest of 108 students on the order of the president of the university. She was preceded the day before by her “interrogation” by the House Education Committee, where, among other things, she was made the observation that the Bible is not taught enough in the curriculum and was seriously asked if she herself wishes God to curse Columbia, with the president to answer with equal seriousness ‘No, I would not’.

I also saw the non-stop, 24-hour protests on and off campus, with the slogans, Palestinian flags and headscarves you see all over the city, and today there was a protest rally of hundreds of Columbia professors in support of their students. At the same time, 47 students were arrested at Yale, while protests are taking place at several other universities (eg Berkeley, Boston University, MIT, University of California, NYU, University of North Carolina).

As of this morning, Columbia has banned entry to the campus, classes are online, the university operates with security personnel and its events are suspended. So despite my belief that the singing should never stop, the above measures made it impossible for the concert to take place. I apologize to those listeners who suffered.

– The talk and concert at UCLA (April 26 and 27) looks like it will go ahead as usual.”