NEW YORK: More than 100 demonstrators advocating for Palestine were arrested at Columbia University after the university’s president, Nemat Minouche Shafik, authorized the New York police to dismantle an encampment set up by students protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza, local media reported on Friday.
Columbia University initiated suspensions for participating students, with Barnard College, an affiliate of Columbia, issuing suspension notices to at least three students: Isra Hirsi, Maryam Iqbal, and Soph Dinu.
Hirsi, daughter of US Representative Ilhan Omar, expressed resilience on social media post-suspension, asserting solidarity with the Gaza protest. This clash echoes past protests, like those against the Vietnam War at Columbia, amid demonstrations across US campuses amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalation.
Columbia demonstrators seek a Gaza ceasefire, an end to US military aid to Israel, and university divestment from companies benefiting from Israel’s actions. The encampment was organized by a coalition including Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Voice for Peace.
