In a dramatic escalation of pro-Palestinian protests that have been sweeping across college campuses nationwide, police officers armed with riot shields and zip ties stormed Columbia University's Hamilton Hall late Tuesday. The intervention resulted in the arrest of dozens of protesters who had occupied the administration building for over 20 hours.
The university had sought police assistance after the protesters, demonstrating against the Israel-Hamas war, seized Hamilton Hall and established a tent encampment on the campus grounds nearly two weeks ago. The university's spokesperson stated, “After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice.” The university clarified that the decision to involve the NYPD was a response to the protesters' actions, not their cause.
The police intervention unfolded amid similar protests at other universities, with a standoff between demonstrators and police occurring at The City College of New York. The nationwide campus protests began at Columbia in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza, following a deadly attack by Hamas on southern Israel.
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik expressed regret in a letter to senior NYPD officials, requesting police to remove protesters from the occupied building and the nearby tent encampment. Shafik, along with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, suggested that the group occupying Hamilton was led by individuals not affiliated with the university, a claim disputed by protest organizers and participants.
The police action at Columbia coincided with the 56th anniversary of a similar move to quash an occupation of Hamilton Hall by students protesting racism and the Vietnam War. The police presence on campus is expected to continue through May 17, the end of the university’s commencement events.
The protests have sparked a nationwide debate, with Israel and its supporters branding the university protests as antisemitic, while critics of Israel argue that these allegations are used to silence opposition. Protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, maintain that their movement is peaceful and aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.
The Columbia University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors criticized the university's administration for ignoring faculty's efforts to defuse the situation. Meanwhile, some students, like Ilana Lewkovitch, a self-described “leftist Zionist” student at Columbia, expressed their wish for a more inclusive protest that accommodates those who criticize Israel’s war policies but believe in the existence of an Israeli state.
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