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NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. – As protests and pro-Palestinian campaigns continue globally, New York’s Columbia University students have followed in the footsteps of their predecessors. At 4 AM on April 17, a group erected tents and established a liberated zone on the university campus. In 1968, a similar scene took place on Columbia’s lawn when students gathered to protest the Vietnam War and claims of campus segregation.
Demands for Divestment
“Down down with occupation, up up with liberation,” hundreds of students chanted on Wednesday. They are calling for the school to cut all financial ties to the state of Israel. ”
“Universities, including Columbia, have profited from such violence through their investments in the State of Israel. Columbia’s current investment portfolio enables and lends legitimacy to Israel’s violations of international law. Columbia is both morally obligated and compelled by the overwhelming consensus of the University community to divest from companies that publicly or privately fund or invest in the perpetuation of Israeli apartheid and war crimes,” the Columbia University Apartheid Divest and 89 additional campus student organizations stated in an official complaint.
Over recent months, students have felt that they’ve been unfairly censored when voicing support for Palestine. Now, a group has vowed to remain on the south lawn until Columbia divests completely from Israel.
Aljazeera asked one unnamed student about claims that the campaign is anti-Semitic. “I [think] that the university, although it will bill itself as socially liberal, it’s definitely fiscally conservative and has many ties to the Israel apartheid and the ongoing genocide on Palestine.” They continue, “In terms of anti-Semitism on campus, I think this is part of a fear-mongering tactic in which the university is employing a very nefarious strategy of identity politics.”
Concurrent with pro-Palestine efforts, supporters of Israel are also saying the school doesn’t do enough to protect Jewish students. This group is calling for the termination of Columbia’s president, saying she has done nothing to address a campus culture of hatred towards Jewish people.
On Thursday afternoon, NYPD began forcibly removing demonstrators from their tents. Over 100 protestors who refused to leave the encampment were arrested.
Columbia Liberated Zone Re-Established: Comparisons between the 1968 and 2024 Protests
In March of 1965, in an effort to mitigate the spread of communism, the US entered the Vietnam War. Americans have widely criticized the decision, then and now.
In 1967, a student activist discovered that the university was affiliated with a weaponry think-tank employed by the US Department of Defense. This initiated a campus campaign against Columbia’s second-hand involvement in the Vietnam War.
At around the same time, the proposal of a new school gymnasium raised concerns about civil rights violations. Columbia University planners wanted to construct the gym near the historically Black neighborhood of Harlem. The plan proposed two separate entrances, an east and a west. Afraid that this was to circumvent the recently passed Civil Rights Act, Harlem residents and students organized. Organizers called the campaign “Gym Crow.”
Then, in 1968, the two efforts joined forces in a series of sit-ins across campus, designating Columbia’s first liberated zone.
Congressional Hearings
Amidst campus unrest, Columbia University President Nemat Shafik appeared before a Congressional committee. Joined by other Columbia leaders, Shafik addressed allegations of anti-Semitism on the school’s campus.
In December, former Harvard President Claudine Gay, as well as presidents from the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), faced a comparable scene. Congress called on the leaders to answer to claims of anti-Semitism on school grounds.
Relentless questioning from Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik created a tumultuous trial. She argued that employees who use the phrase “from the river to the sea” are calling for the genocide of Jewish people.
Gay was heavily criticized for failing to say that calls for the genocide of Jews violate the university’s code of conduct. She later released a statement on X (Twitter) saying, “Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”
Repeated calls for her resignation and plagiarism allegations led Gay to resign after only six months on the job. The shortest presidential tenure the university has ever seen. Fellow Ivy League President Elizabeth McGill also resigned.
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However, Shafik took a different approach than Gay. Shafik has pledged to actively combat instances of anti-Semitism by taking disciplinary action against employees who do not comply.
Wednesday’s Congressional Committee Hearing
House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx gave Wednesday’s opening remarks. “Since October 7, this committee and the nation have watched in horror as so many of our college campuses, particularly the most expensive so-called elite campuses, have erupted into hotbeds of anti-Semitism and hate.”
The committee says that Columbia University leaders haven’t done enough to prevent a culture of hatred on its campus.
Shafik stated the college hired additional staff following October 7 to handle incident reports and complaints. The school has also increased support for students directly affected by the ongoing conflict in Palestine.
Representative Ilhan Omar questioned the university president about the treatment of pro-Palestinian students, including those suspended. Shafik cited their refusal to cooperate with an investigation into an event allegedly supporting Hamas. Omar also inquired about an alleged chemical attack on pro-Palestinian protesters, with Shafik stating an ongoing investigation. Ms. Hirsi was reportedly among those affected.
Isra Hirsi, daughter of Rep. Omar, along with other Barnard students, announced she has been suspended for taking part in the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia. Bernard is a private liberal arts college affiliate of Columbia University. Despite no prior disciplinary warnings, she was reprimanded for her participation.
Nearing the hearings close, Congressman Bobby Scott brought up the fact that this is the fourth hearing on the subject of anti-Semitism. “What does it say when there have been no hearings on racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, or how you can make campuses safe for transgender students?”
Well written. I think Jews have spent so much time trying to suppress every opposing thought as ,antisemitism, it may reached the level of suppression in modern Germany. Now France. That is, now a criminal offense.
The war with Palestine ?? has now provided liberty to express support of Palestine.