108 People Arrested at Columbia University Pro-Palestinian Protest
108 People Arrested at Columbia University Pro-Palestinian Protest
The Facts
Police removed over 100 demonstrators at a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University on Thursday afternoon, including Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
The arrests occurred as NYPD disbanded a pro-Palestinian tent encampment constructed on the campus in protest of the Israel-Gaza conflict. The encampment drew hundreds of demonstrators including independent presidential candidate Cornel West.Police arrested over 100 demonstrators at a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University on Thursday afternoon, including Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
The Spin
Students have a right to free speech on college campuses, but they do not 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
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.
