by Farrukh Abadi
At 4am on April 17, dozens of Columbia University students associated with the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition began pitching tents on the East Lawn of campus, establishing a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Students refused to leave until their demands were met: divestment from Israel and amnesty for students who had previously been placed on interim suspension for allegedly attending a lecture on Palestinian resistance. The encampment was inspired by Columbia student occupations in 1968 against the Vietnam war and segregation and in 1985 against apartheid South Africa.
The following morning, President of Columbia University Minouche Shafik authorized NYPD to clear out the encampment. In a letter to the police, Shafik stated that the “encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University.” The police arrived in the early afternoon in riot gear and arrested over 100 students while hundreds more surrounded the perimeter of the lawn and denounced the police. Zionist counter-protesters celebrating the arrests did not face any consequences despite also violating university policies.
In the same email that Shafik announced her decision to call NYPD, she hypocritically stated that “these are steps that I deeply regret having to take.” Her decision came a day after she testified before Congress on alleged campus antisemitism, vowing to crackdown on the Palestine-solidarity movement and fire professors who have shown their support for Palestinian liberation.
Shortly after the arrests, the student senate condemned the authorization of the police, stating that “the Faculty and ourselves, on the University Senate Executive Committee, have strongly and unanimously refused police presence and police action on our campus.”
The encamping students are facing several levels of punishment—arrest, disciplinary action from the university including interim suspension, and eviction for those who rely on housing from the university.
An email sent out to Barnard students (a women’s college affiliated with Columbia University) allegedly involved with the encampment said that they have 15 minutes to clear out their belongings from their dorms.
Following the clear out by the police, students and community members blocked the NYPD buses that held the arrested students, preventing them from moving. The remaining students on campus have occupied the West Lawn and established another picket on its perimeter.
Shafik, along with Mayor Eric Adams and other representative of the ruling class have repeatedly claimed that the freedom of expression is limited by the “established rules.” It is precisely those limits that have prevented such “freedom” from bringing about change. The students understand that exceeding the “established rules” is the only way in which their demands can be met and have vowed to continue struggling.
note: The number of students arrested at the encampment has been updated to “over 100” from “dozens” as was originally published.
photo: The Columbia University solidarity encampment
