108 Arrested at Columbia University Pro-Palestinian Protest

Facts

• Police arrested over 100 demonstrators at a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University on Thursday afternoon, including Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Democratic US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).¹
• The arrests occurred as the New York Police Dept. (NYPD) disbanded a pro-Palestinian tent encampment constructed on the campus dedicated to demanding a ceasefire and for the university to divest from Israel financially.²
• Columbia University President Dr. Nemat Shafik authorized the police to remove the protestors citing safety concerns, saying in an email to students that 'the individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies.'³
• Police say that 108 people were charged with trespassing and two people were also charged with obstructing government administration. Several students involved with the protests were also suspended from Columbia and Barnard College.⁴
• Thursday's arrests mark the first mass arrests on campus since the Vietnam War protests in 1968. The Columbia encampment follows similar protests across the US including roadblocks at airports and major bridges.⁵
• The arrests came a day after Shafik testified at a House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing about the university's response to allegations of antisemitism on campus.³

Sources: ¹ABC News, ²BBC News, ³CNN, ⁴Associated Press and ⁵Guardian.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by National Review. Students have a right to free speech on college campuses, but they don't have a right to disrupt learning on campus or violate their schools' policies without consequences. This is not a case of Columbia censoring or unfairly targeting students with pro-Palestinian views, but rather a situation where students are being forced to deal with the consequences of their actions for violating a long list of school rules and policies and continuing their unauthorized protests even after they were warned that they were facing arrest and suspension.
• Narrative B, as provided by The Nation. Suspending students for participating in a peaceful protest is unfair and a violation of academic freedoms. These students, and thousands more across the country are determined to be on the right side of history and protest against the genocide occurring in Gaza. The Apartheid Divest coalition and other students involved with Thursday's protest will not be intimidated and will stand firm until their demands for the school to divest from Israel are met. It's very likely that more protests will be held in solidarity with those who have been wronged by Columbia.

Predictions