Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested as Columbia clears encampment

More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested on the campus of New York’s Columbia University as police cleared an encampment set up by students demonstrating against Israel’s war in Gaza.

Several students involved in the protest said they also were suspended from Columbia and its associate institution, Barnard College, including Isra Hirsi, who is the daughter of Ilhan Omar, a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives.

Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, said she had authorised police to clear the dozens of tents set up by protesters because they had breached the university’s rules and policies against holding unauthorised demonstrations and were unwilling to engage with administrators.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said police made more than 108 arrests for trespassing. Two people were also charged with obstructing government administration.

“Students have a right to free speech, but do not have a right to violate university policies and disrupt learning on campus,” he said.

BREAKING: NYPD have begun arresting members of the Columbia University Palestine solidarity encampment pic.twitter.com/h3NhYsERXa

— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) April 18, 2024

Thursday’s move to clear the camp came after a congressional hearing at which Shafik was questioned on alleged anti-Semitism on campus. She was also challenged by Omar on alleged targeting of pro-Palestinian protesters.

Columbia, one of the most prestigious universities in the United States, has emerged as a centre for student activism since the Israel-Gaza war began more than six months ago, with protests both in support of the war and against it.

But the university has drawn particular scrutiny, given its prominence and its attempts to crack down on unauthorised gatherings.

Columbia said it had started to suspend the students who had taken part in the latest camp.

“We are continuing to identify them and will be sending out formal notifications,” a university spokesperson said by email.

Writing on social media, Hirsi said she will not be intimidated and will continue to push for transparency on Columbia’s investments, divestment from “companies complicit in genocide” and amnesty for students facing “repression”.

“We will stand resolute until our demands are met,” she wrote on X after being suspended.

Demonstrations and disruptions

The clash, reminiscent of the demonstrations against the Vietnam War at Columbia more than 50 years ago, is the latest in a series of demonstrations that have disrupted university campuses, bridges and airports since Israel began its assault on Gaza on October 7.

i’m an organizer with CU Apartheid Divest @ColumbiaSJP, in my 3 years at @BarnardCollege i have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings

i just received notice that i am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.

— isra hirsi (@israhirsi) April 18, 2024

Separately on Thursday, about 500 demonstrators marched at the University of Southern California in support of Asna Tabassum, a Muslim student whose valedictorian speech was cancelled by the university, which cited safety concerns.

Tabassum and her supporters say the university sought to silence her because of her opposition to the Israeli assault on Gaza.

Protesters marched with signs of “Let Her Speak” and chants of “Shame!” directed at the USC administration.

“It feels really important especially right now for the Jewish voice at USC, the anti-Zionist Jewish voice at USC, to be very loud and very present,” said demonstrator Katya Urban, 23, part of the Jewish Voice for Peace contingent at USC.

Israel’s assault on Gaza, which has killed at least 33,970 people, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, began after Hamas launched a surprise October 7 attack on Israel in which the group killed 1,139 people and abducted more than 200.