On Wednesday, New York City police gathered outside Columbia University after students convened in the early morning hours to erect numerous camping tents on the campus lawn.
The students are members of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition
The pro-Palestine demonstration began hours before President Minouche Shafik started testifying at a Congressional hearing to address claims of anti-Semitism on campus following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
The students are members of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition, created after officials suspended chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace this fall, claiming violations of campus safety and event planning rules.
The organizers of the tent occupation were inspired by Vietnam-era protestors who, when Columbia announced plans to build a student gym on city parkland, invaded administrators’ offices in 1968 and demanded that the university cut links with a military department think tank.
Today’s divestment movement is also demanding that the university’s board break all funding relations with weapons manufacturers that supply Israel, as well as, according to organizer Isra Hirsi, extend amnesty to pro-Palestinian students who have been punished for past campus actions.
“I never expected to see this many people here,” said Hirsi, a Barnard student who is the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, “despite the fact that they know the risks of disciplinary action and arrest.”
While Columbia’s grounds are typically accessible to all, the administration has mostly closed the campus gates and prohibited public entry following rallies this autumn condemning Israel’s war in Gaza, which the administration claims were unauthorized.
Pro-Israel activists are also scheduled to hold a rally near campus in response to Shafik’s testimony, making for a tense day with a heavy police presence.
