Columbia University in New York: Students occupy building

The pro-Palestinian demonstrations at New York’s elite Columbia University, which have been going on for almost two weeks, are threatening to escalate. On Tuesday night (local time), demonstrators broke into a building, US media reported. It is the Hamilton Hall, which was also occupied in 1968 during a protest against the Vietnam War.

The situation in New York escalates: students occupied university buildings

Videos showed masked people wearing black and white Palestinian scarves breaking windows and barricading the entrance to the building with chairs and tables. According to the Columbia Spectator student newspaper, several dozen protesters were in Hamilton Hall. Hundreds more demonstrated in front of the building. The police are standing by outside the university campus in case there are any injuries.

Student groups Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine and Columbia University Apartheid Divest said they would not leave Hamilton Hall until their demands were met. “Occupying a building is a small risk compared to the daily resistance of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” said a statement shared on the X platform, formerly Twitter. Columbia recommended that students and employees only visit campus on Tuesday for emergency reasons for safety reasons.

Columbia University suspends students

After unsuccessful negotiations between the demonstrators and the renowned university, the university took action against students. A university representative said on Monday (local time) that the process of suspending students had begun. This is part of the next phase to ensure safety on campus. The demonstrators missed a Monday afternoon deadline to clear their protest camp on campus.

University President Minouche Shafik announced on Monday that days of negotiations between the two sides had ended without any results. She appealed to the demonstrators to “voluntarily” vacate their camp – but the protesters did not comply with this for the time being. The deadline passed without any sign of the camp of 200 people disbanding.

Negotiations with protesters unsuccessful

The university management had been negotiating with the demonstrators since Wednesday. A central issue was the protesters’ demand that Columbia University divest from companies with ties to Israel.

In her statement on Monday, Shafik made it clear that the university had no intention of “withdrawing investments from Israel.” However, in the discussions, the university management offered to increase transparency about the investments made by the university and to examine student suggestions for “socially responsible investing” more quickly.

“Unbearable” atmosphere at Columbia University

However, Shafik complained that many of the Jewish students had found the atmosphere at Columbia University in recent weeks “unbearable” and had therefore left the university. “Anti-Semitic language and actions are unacceptable and calls for violence are simply abhorrent,” said the university president.

In mid-April, the university called the police to campus to take action against the protests. More than 100 people were arrested. The pro-Palestinian protests then spread to other colleges across the country.

Pro-Palestinian protest camps dismantled

Last weekend, police broke up protest camps at several US universities, sometimes using chemical irritants and Tasers. Around 275 protesters were arrested, including 100 at Northeastern University in Boston alone.

The government of US President Joe Biden called on protesters to refrain from violence. “We obviously respect the right to peaceful protests,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on ABC News on Sunday. However, the government condemns anti-Semitic statements “as well as circulating hate speech and threats of violence.”

Protesters reject accusations of anti-Semitism

The organizers of the protests reject the accusation of anti-Semitism. They emphasize that the protests are directed against Israel’s warfare in the Gaza Strip.

The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by the major attack on Israel on October 7th by the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas. According to Israeli information, 1,170 people were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Israel has taken massive military action in the Palestinian territory. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 34,480 people have been killed so far.

Note: This article has been updated.