For two weeks, Columbia University students have been protesting what they see as Israel’s displacement and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, including setting up tent camps and blocking entrances to university buildings.
Now the university administration is responding by suspending students who refuse to leave the area.
The pro-Palestinian students were ordered by the school administration to leave the area by Monday evening. When they failed to do so, they announced that those who continued to demonstrate against Israel on school grounds would be “suspended pending further investigation” and would not be allowed to finish the semester.
“This disgusting intimidation means nothing compared to the deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians”, the students themselves commented, according to TT.
It is unclear how many students have been suspended so far. Recently, footage emerged of students “taking over” the university’s 118-year-old Hamilton Hall building, barricading doors and smashing windows while chanting “Free Palestine!”
NEW: 🇺🇲 American students and professors are intensifying protests against Israeli genocide and corrupt politicians
Anti-Israeli genocide protesters have now stormed the Hamilton Hall building on the Columbia University campus in New York and have begun fortifying and… pic.twitter.com/QBggRVpVEi
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) April 30, 2024
1000 arrested
Protests have been growing in intensity recently, not only at Columbia, but at other universities across the US, where a growing number of younger Americans are speaking out not only against Israeli crimes – but also against US support for its allies.
The suspension of students is seen by university officials as “part of the next phase of our package of measures to ensure the safety of our campus”, and pro-Palestinian demonstrators have also been accused of violence, threats and vandalism.
In the past, up to 1,000 protesters were reportedly arrested across the US, and demands were made, including that universities stop doing business with the Israeli state or companies that work with Israel.
There have also been some successes, such as Portland State University’s decision to stop accepting donations from aerospace and defense company Boeing, which has also supplied weapons to the Israeli military.
🚨 HAPPENING NOW: Columbia University students have occupied a campus building, Hamilton Hall, the site of the historic 1968 occupation. The movement for Palestine stands strong! pic.twitter.com/yXmIN7gAIa
— The People's Forum (@PeoplesForumNYC) April 30, 2024
Netanyahu calls for ban
Recently, The Nordic Times reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is demanding that US authorities shut down the protests – comparing them to the persecution of Jews during World War II.
– We have to stop anti-Semitism, because anti-Semitism is the canary in the coal mine. It always precedes bigger conflagrations that engulf the whole world, he said, claiming that the students were calling for “the destruction of Israel”.
