New York’s Columbia University — an Ivy League school that prides itself on being the “finest liberal arts college in the US” — has become a hotbed of pro-Palestine protests after being thrust into the limelight due to the suspension and subsequent arrest of over a 100 protesting Columbia University and Barnard College students.
On April 17, students against Israel’s aggressive military offensive in Gaza established a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on school grounds. The demonstrating students, part of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest — a coalition of over 100 student groups from various institutions — attempted to raise calls for the varsity to financially divest from companies and institutions that “profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation in Palestine.”
Columbia University President Dr Nemat Talaat “Minouche” Shafik requested the New York Police Department to “remove” student protesters in a letter. “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,” the letter read.