New York’s prestigious Columbia University, renowned as the “finest liberal arts college in the US” within the Ivy League, has recently become a focal point for pro-Palestine demonstrations. The university gained widespread attention following the suspension and subsequent arrest of over 100 protesting students from Columbia University and Barnard College.
On April 17, students opposing Israel’s aggressive military actions in Gaza established a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the university grounds. These demonstrators, affiliated with the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition, comprising over 100 student groups from various institutions, aimed to urge the university to divest financially from companies and institutions profiting from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine.
What happened
On Thursday, approximately 108 students engaged in demonstration, including Jewish students and Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Minnesota Congresswoman and Democratic Party member Ilhan Omar who attends Barnard College, were suspended and subsequently arrested on charges of “trespassing”.
Columbia University President Dr. Nemat Talaat “Minouche” Shafik formally requested the New York Police Department to “remove” student protesters in a letter. The letter stated, “More than 100 individuals are currently occupying the South Lawn of Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus. This group has been informed numerous times and in writing that they are not permitted to occupy this space, are in violation of the University’s rules and policies and must disperse. All University students participating in the encampment have been informed they are suspended. At this time, the participants in the encampment are not authorised to be on University property and are trespassing.”
These protests, along with the subsequent disciplinary actions and arrests, occurred one day after Shafik’s testimony at a Congressional hearing addressing the rise of antisemitism on college campuses. Confrontations on campus prompted condemnation from the White House and New York officials, according to a report by CNN.
NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell stated to the outlet, “The students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner.”
However, Maryam Alwan, a fourth-year Columbia student who helped organize the protest, stated in a televised MSNBC interview, “We were arrested on the grounds of trespass, meaning that we would’ve had to have been suspended in order to be trespassing onto our own campus but the suspension letter said that you are suspended for violation of law because you were arrested for trespassing so it doesn’t even make sense and feels like it’s part of repressive campaign against Palestine advocacy that has been ongoing for months now.”
Isra Hirsi, accompanying Alwan for the interview, remarked, “This was expected, we knew the risks and we knew what we were engaging in. However, I wasn’t really expecting to be locked out of my dorm and of campus as quickly as I was.”
These protests have now spread to other campuses, including Yale and MIT. Dozens of individuals were arrested at demonstrations held at Yale University in Connecticut and New York University in Manhattan, as reported by Reuters.
Yale University President Peter Salovey stated in a statement issued on Monday that 60 people, including at least 47 student protesters, were arrested for trespassing after they blocked traffic around campus. Additionally, several protesters were arrested at NYU.
Furthermore, hundreds of faculty members at Columbia staged a mass walkout on Monday to protest Shafik’s decision to involve police in the arrest of students on campus.
Exposing double standards
The university protests have emerged as a focal point in the Palestinian liberation movement within the US, revealing a troubling double standard in both media coverage and the handling of the protests.
Media reports have predominantly emphasized the impact on Jewish students and communities rather than delving into the protesters’ demands or the underlying reasons for the demonstrations.
For instance, a CNN report on the crisis at the university preceding the Jewish holiday Passover detailed a rabbi’s call to Jewish students, advising them to remain at home amidst “tense confrontations.” However, the report failed to provide any instances of antisemitism, harassment, or violence directed against Jewish students by other students at Columbia.
The report insinuates that university officials’ testimonies regarding antisemitism on campus are directly linked to the pro-Palestinian protests on or near campus, yet it overlooks the suspended Jewish students who participated in the encampment protests.
These students articulated the “discriminatory, repressive, and unsafe conditions” they encountered while protesting at the liberated zone at Columbia University in an open letter shared by Jewish Voice for Peace. The letter underscored how the suspension disrupted their religious observances during Shabbat and left them homeless on the religious holiday.
Threats from ‘outside’ the campus
Amid numerous reports condemning the protests, a New York Times article stood out by highlighting how Jewish students at Columbia University expressed feeling “targeted,” citing threats originating from outside the campus rather than within it.
The article noted, “After reports of harassment by demonstrators, some Jewish students said they felt unsafe. Others rejected that view, while condemning antisemitism.” It referenced an incident that occurred over the weekend following student-led demonstrations on campus, which purportedly attracted more agitated protests from individuals seemingly unaffiliated with the university “outside Columbia’s gated campus.”
Addressing these “unassociated incidents,” the Columbia University Apartheid Divest posted an Instagram story, emphasizing their commitment to ensuring the safety of all. They stated, “Our priority is the safety of all, which includes not antagonizing counter-protesters or escalating situations unnecessarily.”
Students versus Shafik
Protesting students at Columbia University have openly criticized the university president’s testimony before Congress regarding antisemitism. In a strongly-worded editorial published in The Columbia Daily Spectator, they called for her to take stronger action to protect protesters who had been doxxed.
Additionally, the Barnard and Columbia chapter of the American Association of University Professors released a “Resolution of Censure of President Shafik, her administration, and the co-chairs of the Board of Trustees,” which they intend to present to the University Senate.
The resolution was formulated following President Shafik’s authorization of the NYPD to disband the Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
“President Shafik’s disregard for the fundamental principles of academic freedom and shared governance, as well as her unprecedented attack on students’ rights, warrants clear and emphatic condemnation,” the resolution stated.
The editorial highlighted that Shafik had “demonstrated a complete lack of consistency in upholding her principles, failing to distinguish between speech she personally opposes and speech that warrants suppression.”
In a letter issued on Thursday announcing her decision to summon the police, Shafik stated that the encampment had “disrupted campus life and had created an atmosphere of intimidation.”
Conflating pro-Palestine sentiments with antisemitism
Shafik isn’t alone in attributing the rise in antisemitism to peaceful student protests on and around campuses. US President Joe Biden and other politicians are also equating pro-Palestine sentiments with antisemitism and holding students and the pro-Palestine movement responsible for fostering hatred towards Jewish people.
Andrew Bates, a White House spokesperson, emphasized the right to peaceful protest but condemned any calls for violence or intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community as blatantly antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous. However, Bates’ statement failed to differentiate between protests outside campus and those inside, while conflating calls for peace with antisemitic rhetoric.
Similarly, President Biden, in a statement marking Passover, addressed the alarming surge in antisemitism in schools, communities, and online, stressing the need to speak out against it. He cited instances of harassment and calls for violence against Jews, including footage on social media allegedly showing activists making threatening remarks.
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, urged NYC Mayor, US officials, and leaders to take immediate action against the Columbia protests, emphasizing the safety and respect Jewish students deserve.
Despite this, Jewish students supporting pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus expressed solidarity, disavowing acts of antisemitism. In a statement, student activists representing the protesters distanced themselves from “inflammatory individuals” and rejected all forms of hate or bigotry.
They highlighted being misidentified and facing harassment, arrests by the NYPD, and being locked out of their homes by the university. They expressed their stance against Columbia’s allocation of funds to companies profiting from death.
During an MSNBC interview, when asked about the impact of the encampment on other students, Congresswoman Omar’s daughter, Hisri, described it as a community-centered space where activities like singing, meals, and prayers took place. She emphasized that it didn’t disrupt classes and was located in a designated protest zone on campus.
