Columbia University stops in-person classes after pro-Palestinian protests sees hundreds arrested
Columbia University students will attend classes virtually on Monday as officials hope to deescalate tensions on the campus following pro-Palestine protests.
President at the New York City university Nemat Minouche Shafik said the university was cancelling in-person classes on Monday while denouncing antisemitic language and intimidating and harassing behaviour.
It comes as Orthodox rabbi at Columbia University and its affiliate Barnard College Elie Buechler said that campus and city police cannot guarantee the safety of Jewish students.
More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Thursday on the campus after Shafik authorised New York police to clear an encampment set up by students as part of a demonstration.
Shafik said: “These tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas…we need a reset.”
The university President last week testified before a US House of Representatives committee, defending the school’s response to alleged antisemitism by protesters.
Buechler said in a WhatsApp message: “It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved.”
Meanwhile, demonstrators blocked traffic around Yale’s campus in New Haven, Connecticut, demanding the school divest from military weapons manufacturers, prompting police to make arrests.
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President Joe Biden said in a statement on Sunday that his administration has put the full force of the federal government behind protecting the Jewish community.
“Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous – and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.”
There were reports that assistant professor Shai Davidai was denied access to the campus grounds during his pro-Israeili rally at Columbia. GB News has approached Columbia for a comment.
Student organisers from the Columbia University encampment responded to the White House claims of antisemitism in the pro-Palestinian protests on campus. They said they were being misidentified and that some “inflammatory individuals” did not represent their movement.
“We are frustrated by media distractions focusing on inflammatory individuals who do not represent us,” the anti-war Columbia protesters said in an emailed statement shared through a pro-Palestinian advocacy group called Institute of Middle East Understanding.
The student activists said they are demanding the school divest from corporations that profit from Israel actions in Gaza, transparency of the school’s financial investments and amnesty for students and faculty disciplined over their calls for Palestinian liberation.
Alongside the protests, human rights advocates, have also pointed to a rise in bias and hate against Jews, Arabs and Muslims in the months following the October 7 attack on Israel.
A spokesperson from Yale University told GB News: “For the past week, protestors advocating for Yale’s divestment from military weapons manufacturers converged on Hewitt Quadrangle (Beinecke Plaza). Over the weekend, these protests grew to include several hundred people – Yale undergraduates, graduate and professional students, and people with no Yale affiliation.
“Early this morning, the university again asked protestors to leave and remove their belongings. Before taking this step, the university had notified protestors numerous times that if they continued to violate Yale’s policies and instructions regarding occupying outdoor spaces, they could face law enforcement and disciplinary action, including reprimand, probation, or suspension.
“The university also spent several hours in discussion with student protestors yesterday, offering them the opportunity to meet with trustees, including the chair of the Corporation Committee on Investor Responsibility (CCIR), and to avoid arrest if they left the plaza by the end of the weekend. They declined this offer and continued to occupy the plaza.
“The university extended the deadline for a response to their offer to meet with the CCIR and trustees several times, with negotiations concluding unsuccessfully at 11:30pm.
“Today, members of Yale’s police department isolated the area and asked protestors to show identification; some left voluntarily. When others did not comply after multiple requests, the Yale Police Department (YPD) issued summonses to 47 students, according to the most recent report from the chief of YPD. Students who were arrested also will be referred for Yale disciplinary action, which includes a range of sanctions, such as reprimand, probation, or suspension.”