Katya Yindra
On Wednesday, March 5, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) launched another sit-in at Barnard College’s Milstein Library. This time, they named the space after Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the heroic Palestinian doctor who was captured by the IDF for refusing to abandon his patients at Kamal Adwan Hospital. Abu Safiya remains imprisoned in Israel under torturous conditions. CUAD stated they invoked his name to raise awareness and intensify international pressure for his release.
Students flooded the library, chanting and banging drums. From the windows, they unfurled a “Wanted” banner of Dean Leslie Grinage and paraded a puppet of President Laura Rosenbury, seeming to question who really controls her. Organizers set up a table with pamphlets and reading materials in support of the Palestinian armed resistance, including “Our Narrative” by Hamas, which explains its rationale for launching the legendary Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
At one point, a Barnard administrator approached protesters and held her phone up to a megaphone, allowing President Rosenbury to address the group. She reiterated her previous offer: a meeting with three unmasked Barnard students. One protester responded, “We will send three unmasked students if you unmask your finances.” CUAD later reiterated this demand on Instagram, declaring, “Our student negotiators will comply with the request to unmask under one condition: Barnard College must publicly disclose its financial assets.”
Another protester pressed Rosenbury: “Will the three students be granted amnesty, written and signed?” After a brief silence, Rosenbury weakly replied, “I don’t understand the question.” As the protester attempted to clarify, she abruptly hung up.
As the sit-in continued, reports of a bomb threat began to circulate on social media and then monopoly media outlets. Another representative of Barnard’s administration urged students to disperse, but the group voted to remain. Videos captured protesters expressing their disbelief in the veracity of the threat.
By 5 PM, dozens of NYPD officers in riot gear stormed the library, ordering students to leave. The Strategic Response Group (SRG) arrived alongside K-9 units, according to protesters.
In a private email sent to CUAD later that night, Rosenbury claimed the police response was due to the bomb threat. She claimed that they told the NYPD “We hope that you are able to evacuate people without arrest and that arrest is only used as a last resort…”
Meanwhile, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) pointed out on X that while NYPD forced protesters to move 1,000 feet from the library under the guise of the bomb threat, they did not evacuate the library’s second floor or the adjacent freshman dorms.
In the end, the NYPD arrested at least 9 protesters.
Photo: NYPD arrest student protesters on Barnard campus. Credit: @bluepashminas on X.
The Worker is an entirely volunteer-run revolutionary newspaper free from and radically antagonistic to corporate influence. We rely on the support of our readers to sustain our editorial line in service of the working class and the reconstitution of its party, the Communist Party. Make a one-time or recurring donation to our newspaper today:
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateDonate monthly
