Pro-Palestinian Columbia Students Enter Hall, Rename It to Honor Young Gaza Victim
The university administration has taken disciplinary measures and initiated suspensions for some students after pro-Palestinian demonstrators declined to dismantle campus encampments established in solidarity with Gaza by the 2 p.m. deadline on Monday.
Late Monday night, a group of students entered Hamilton Hall, a historic building situated on the university’s central campus. Some students obstructed the main entrance and voiced “Free Palestine” slogans, as reported by the New York Times.
A banner reading “Hind’s Hall,” in honor of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old girl killed by Israeli forces, was unfurled by Columbia students.
Columbia President Nemat Minouche Shafik, in a statement on Monday, acknowledged the breakdown of talks between the university and the protesters, stating that the university has declined to “divest from Israel.”
Shafik indicated that Columbia University will not meet a central demand of pro-Palestinian protesters who should “voluntarily disperse” amid stalled talks.
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Since Wednesday, a “small group of academic leaders” have been engaged in “constructive dialogue” with protest organizers “to find a path that would result in the dismantling of the encampment and adherence to University policies going forward,” Shafik added.
“While the University will not divest from Israel, the University offered to develop an expedited timeline for review of new proposals from the students by the Advisory Committee for Socially Responsible Investing, the body that considers divestment matters,” Shafik further stated.
Across the country, hundreds of students have been arrested on campuses amid protests demanding universities divest from Israel and condemn its ongoing aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip where over 34,400 people have been killed. The vast majority of the dead have been women and children.
Palestinian journalists, academics, and activists have been frequently killed. The Israeli regime has also targeted Gaza’s places of higher education, with all of its 12 major universities being destroyed. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, has separately reported mass destruction at the sprawling network of schools it operates in the coastal enclave.
Source: Agencies
