The encampment was dismantled when university president
Minouche Shafik authorized the
New York City Police Department (NYPD) to enter the campus and conduct mass arrests.[3][4] A new encampment was built the next day. The administration then entered into negotiations with protesters, which failed on April 29 and resulted in the suspension of student protesters.[5] The next day, protesters broke into and occupied
Hamilton Hall,[6] leading to a second NYPD raid, the arrest of more than 100 protesters, and the dismantling of the camp.[7] The arrests marked the first time Columbia allowed police to suppress campus protests since the
1968 demonstrations against the Vietnam War.[8]
As a result of the protests, Columbia University switched to
hybrid learning (incorporating more online learning) for the rest of the semester.[9] The protests encouraged
other actions at multiple universities. Several incidents described as antisemitic took place during the protests.[10] Organizers have said they were the work of outside agitators and non-students.[11] Pro-Palestinian Jewish protesters have said that the protests are not antisemitic.[12] On May 6, the school administration announced the cancellation of the
university-wide graduation ceremony scheduled on May 15 and said it would instead make "Class Days and school-level ceremonies" the "centerpiece" of its commencement activities.[13]
Background
Israel–Hamas war demonstrations at Columbia University
Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel students have staged demonstrations at Columbia University during the
Israel–Hamas war.[14] Pro-Palestinian activists at Columbia have said that their movement is
anti-Zionist,[15] and protests at Columbia have been organized by anti-Zionist groups.[16]
On October 12, 2023, the university closed its campus after opposing demonstrations collided.[17] In November 2023, the administration suspended Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace after they held an unauthorized student walkout, furthering conflicts between faculty and administration; the university claimed that one person at the event shouted anti-Semitic epithets.[18] That same month, students walked out of a class taught by
Hillary Clinton after she made remarks opposing a ceasefire.[19]
In January 2024, students at a pro-Palestinian demonstration on campus were sprayed with a chemical that they alleged to be
Skunk, a foul-smelling spray usually used as crowd control by the
Israel Defense Forces, causing various injuries.[20][21][22] In response, demonstrators organized a protest outside the university.[23] The
New York City Police Department announced that it would investigate the event as a potential hate crime.[24] SJP and JVP published a report stating that the perpetrators were former IDF soldiers and current Columbia students.[20] In April, one of the perpetrators, who had been suspended the previous month, sued the university under the pseudonym
John Doe, claiming that he had actually sprayed non-toxic "
gag gift" fart sprays he had purchased from
Amazon, adding that pro-Palestine students
doxxed him in retaliation.[25][26]
In March 2024, students held an unauthorized "Resistance 101" event. University administration hired a private investigation firm to investigate the event and suspended four students for hosting it.[27]
The encampment
At the entrance to the encampment on Columbia's east lawn was posted "Gaza Solidarity Encampment Community Guidelines". Some of these guidelines were to not take pictures of people without their permission, not to use drugs or alcohol in the encampment, and not to engage with counter-protesters. Speaking to the press was allowed only between 2 and 4 pm. Other signs on the perimeter said "Demilitarize education" and "
Globalize the Intifada". Students created their own chants and passed out flyers that read "Do you feel safe sending your child to a school which gives up its students to the police?"[28] There was a buffet-style meal service with abundant food.[29]
Student protesters called on Columbia to financially divest from any company with business ties to the Israeli government, including
Lockheed Martin,
Microsoft,
Google, and
Amazon.[30]
Participants
The campus occupation was organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a student-led coalition of over 120 groups;[31]Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP); and
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). These groups have participated in New York City's pro-Palestinian demonstrations since the October 2023 start of the
Israel–Hamas war.[32]
Local group
Within Our Lifetime (WOL) organized protests around the campus perimeter in support of the encampment, clashing with the
NYPD.[33][34][35] Other groups protesting outside campus included
Neturei Karta, a Jewish anti-Zionist sect,[36][37][38][39] Uptown for Palestine,[40] and a coalition composed of Palestinian Youth Movement, The People's Forum,
ANSWER Coalition, and the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation-Awda.[41][42][43]
Groups of pro-Israel
counterprotesters were also present outside the university and were generally much smaller,[8] with the exception of an April 26 march outside campus organized by
StandWithUs and right-wing
Christian Zionists that drew hundreds of people.[44]
Timeline
April 17–21
On April 17, beginning around 4 am,[45] about 70 protesters sat in tents bearing the Palestinian flag on the East Butler Lawn.[46] Protesters put up banners reading "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" and "Liberated Zone".[3] A substantial NYPD presence was noted outside the university as soon as the encampment was established.[35] Activity in the encampment included a
teach-in and
film screening.[3] That morning, at about 10 am, Columbia University president
Minouche Shafik testified before the
House Committee on Education and the Workforce, an event that had been planned weeks before.[47] She had previously been invited to attend the November 2023
United States Congress hearing on antisemitism but had declined, citing a scheduling conflict.
The next day, the Shafik-authorized[48]New York City Police Department Strategic Response Group[49] entered the encampment to arrest protesters[50] as Columbia University employees cleared the tents.[51] CUAD (Columbia University Apartheid Divest) said the university had dumped students' confiscated belongings in a nearby alley.[45] Three students were suspended, including
Isra Hirsi, the daughter of U.S. Representative
Ilhan Omar.[52] After the NYPD appeared, a group of pro-Israel counter-protesters congregated to celebrate the university's response, waving American and Israeli flags.[53] A protest on 114th Street and
Amsterdam Avenue formed, but dispersed to allow buses with detained protesters to exit.[54]
Despite the dismantlement of the encampment, protesters soon moved to an adjacent lawn on campus, the West Lawn of the Butler Lawns,[55] where they hoisted their banners and pitched several tents.[3][56]Public intellectual and independent
presidential candidateCornel West appeared to show solidarity.[57] A group protested outside the university's main entrance on
116th Street.[58] Protesters on 116th Street and
Broadway moved toward 120th Street after a man was taken into custody.[59] All of the protesters the NYPD arrested were released by late evening.[28]
On April 19, protesters remained camped out on campus; SJP chapters at the
University of North Carolina,
Boston University, and
Ohio State University, as well as the Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee at
Harvard University, announced rallies in solidarity with the Columbia protesters.[60]Norman Finkelstein, an anti-Zionist political scientist and activist, appeared and gave a speech to protesters.[28] A
Muslimjummah prayer service and a
JewishKabbalat Shabbat prayer service were held at the encampment in the afternoon and evening, respectively.[28] On April 18, the university informed the student protesters who had been arrested that they were indefinitely suspended.[61]
During the weekend of April 20-21, public safety officers from the administration told
WKCR-FM, which had been broadcasting information about the protest, to vacate its office due to an unspecified danger. Staff refused, saying they had a responsibility to broadcast information 24/7.[62][63] WKCR later said it was a misunderstanding.[62] Protesters also targeted some Jewish students with "antisemitic vitriol", leaving some Jewish students "fearful for their safety on the campus and its vicinity".[10]
On April 21, Elie Buechler, a rabbi associated with Columbia University’s Orthodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, recommended that Jewish students "return home as soon as possible and remain home", arguing that the ongoing campus occupation had "made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety".[64][65] Footage of protests over the weekend showed some protesters using antisemitic language against Jewish students, and many Jewish students said they felt unsafe.[66]
April 22–28
Hundreds of Columbia faculty members walked out of classes to protest the university's response to the protest.[67] Because of the protest, the university canceled classes on April 22,[68][69] and then said it would switch to
blended learning for the remainder of the semester.[9] The Columbia Elections Board announced that a referendum on divestment from Israel, originally proposed by CUAD on March 3, 2024, had passed by a large margin, showing that Columbia's student body mostly supported the initiative.[70][71] In the evening, the students celebrated a
Seder on the first evening of
Passover.[72][73]
On April 23, A student organizer said that protesters were in negotiations with the university through a legal negotiator but declined to share details.
Ben Chang, Columbia's spokesperson, said that organizers had met with university officials in the early morning to discuss the situation.[74] Shafik issued a midnight deadline for protesters to either agree to vacate campus or face the university's consideration of "alternative options for clearing the West Lawn and restoring calm to campus".[75] Jewish pro-Palestinian students held
Passover Seder within the encampment.[72][76]
Shortly after midnight on April 24, SJP reported that protesters had suspended negotiations because the university had threatened to call in the
New York Army National Guard to clear them out, saying they would not return to the negotiating table until Columbia rescinded its threat. But the university said that "important progress" had been made in negotiations and that Shafik's original deadline would be extended by 48 hours, that the students had agreed to reduce the number of tents, and that they would ensure that protesters not affiliated with Columbia would leave campus. Protesters were seen taking down and moving some tents.[77][78] Meanwhile, the NYPD dispersed about 100 protesters outside campus.[78]
Palestine Legal filed a Title VI suit with regard to suspended students on April 25.[84] The Columbia Board of Trustees issued statements in affirmation of Shafik.[85] The Columbia student senate held an emergency meeting with Shafik to consider censuring her.[86]
On April 26, a United for Israel counter-march, organized by
StandWithUs and some right-wing organizations, was held around Columbia and stopped at the gates.[44] Some marchers harassed pro-Palestinian counter-protesters and targeted some counter-protesters inside the gates.[44] U.S. Representatives
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and
Jamaal Bowman visited the encampment.[87] Columbia library workers issued a statement condemning Shafik for deploying police and private security against the protesters.[88] More than 1,000 pro-Israel protesters organized by the "New York Hostage and Missing Families Forum" rallied at 116th and Broadway.[89] The
University Senate announced plans to call for a
censure vote against Shafik but decided instead to vote on a resolution expressing displeasure with her out of fear of ousting the president in a time of crisis.[90]
Khymani James, a Columbia student who had emerged as a leader of the protest movement, was barred from campus after a video from January surfaced in which they said, "Zionists don’t deserve to live". Other protest groups condemned the comment. The New York Times said the student's comments raised the question, "How much of the movement in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza is tainted by antisemitism?"[91][92] On April 27, the student suspended for their "Zionists don't deserve to live" comment apologized.[93] The NYPD said that outside agitators were trying to hijack the protests, and that they were ready to raid the campus if needed.[93] The next day, the administration called for the protesters to leave, and said that bringing back the NYPD would be counterproductive.[94]
April 29–May 2
Negotiations between protesters and the university came to a "dead end" on April 29. The administration threatened to suspend students still in the encampment by 2 pm. It also offered a partial amnesty deal.[95] CUAD voted to stay in the encampment after the deadline, and SJP told members not to sign any administration deals. Faculty linked arms around the encampment before the deadline. Despite the threats, students stayed in the encampment and surrounding areas.[96][97][98] Suspensions began later that day.[5]
A Jewish student sued the university for failing to provide a safe environment.[97] Police set up barricades outside the university.[99] Alumni wrote Shafik a letter asking her to clear the encampment.[100]
In the early morning of April 30, protesters occupied
Hamilton Hall, breaking windows,[6] and barricaded themselves inside. Protesters unfurled a banner purporting to rename the building "Hind's Hall" in honor of
Hind Rajab, a young Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces.[101] As a result, the campus was locked down and higher police presence was noted near campus; the NYPD and the university said they would not send police in.[100] The administration threatened to expel students who participated in the hall takeover.[102] "Professional agitator"
Lisa Fithian was spotted aiding protesters breaking into Hamilton Hall.[103]
Late on April 30, a heavy riot police presence was seen outside the campus. The administration told students to shelter in place due to "heightened activity". The NYPD prepared to raid the campus after a letter from Shafik gave it permission.[104] Protesters appeared undeterred, continuing chants.[7]
At around 9 pm, the NYPD entered campus with administration approval. The administration blamed protesters for escalating by taking Hamilton Hall.[7] According to Shafik's letter to the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters requesting police intervention, someone hid in the building until it closed, then let others in. Columbia believed that while students were among those who entered, their leaders were unaffiliated with the university.[105] Using
flash-bang grenades to breach the building, more than 100 protesters were arrested.[104] Officers were seen entering the building with weapons drawn and a shot was fired inside the building.[106] The district attorney's office said no one was injured and their Police Accountability Unit was reviewing the incident.[106] By the end of the night, Hamilton Hall and the entire campus were cleared, including the encampment.[107]
According to Manhattan District Attorney
Alvin Bragg, 109 people were arrested at Columbia.[108]
In the letter to the deputy commissioner, Shafik requested an NYPD presence through at least May 17,[105] two days after the scheduled
commencement.
On May 2, the NYPD announced that during arrests at Columbia, out of 112 people arrested, 32 were not affiliated with the school.[109][110] Mayor
Eric Adams said there was evidence that outside agitators and "professionals" such as
Lisa Fithian and the wife of
Sami Al-Arian had given students tactical knowledge and training to escalate the protests.[109]
Aftermath
Despite claims that the police sweep was done to ensure a main graduation commencement, especially as the class of 2024 had its
high school commencement canceled due to COVID, the university decided to cancel the main commencement anyway, though the various colleges plan to hold separate commencements.[111] Small pro-Palestinian protests were held outside the homes of some Columbia University trustees, when a pro-Israeli man argued with some of the protesters before driving into the protest.[112] The driver and a struck protester were both arrested and treated at the hospital for minor injuries.[112]
Protests at other university campuses
Universities in the United States with Israel–Hamas war protests in April 2024. Columbia University is marked in red. Other colleges that had encampments are marked in green, and non-encampment protests are marked in blue.
Representative
Jerrold Nadler, a Columbia alumnus and the
House of Representatives' longest-serving Jewish member, wrote that "Columbia has an obligation to protect students and their learning environment".[140]
New York City mayor
Eric Adams said, "Students have a right to free speech but do not have a right to violate university policies and disrupt learning on campus".[141]
President
Joe Biden referenced the protests in his statement on Passover: "harassment and calls for violence against Jews ... has absolutely no place on college campuses". A separate White House statement condemned "physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community" on Columbia's campus.[142] Former president and presumptive Republican nominee
Donald Trump stated, "The police came in and in exactly two hours, everything was over. It was a beautiful thing to watch."[143]
Columbia University alum and former trustee
Robert Kraft, who founded Columbia's Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life, wrote on Instagram: "I am no longer confident that Columbia can protect its students and staff and I am not comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken."[144]
The union representing Columbia student workers released a statement calling for "the immediate reinstatement of all student and student workers disciplined for pro-Palestine protests and the end to the repression of protest on Columbia's campus".[145]
Ocasio-Cortez wrote on
X: "Calling in police enforcement on non-violent demonstrations of young students on campus is an escalatory, reckless, and dangerous act. It represents a heinous failure of leadership that puts people’s lives at risk. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms."[146]
U.N. special rapporteur on human rights defenders
Mary Lawlor called Columbia's threat to suspend students for not ending the encampment "a clear violation of their right to peaceful assembly".[147]
At Columbia
An editor of the
Columbia Daily Spectator, Milène Klein, said that alarmists are making the protest all about antisemitism or being against Jewish students.[148] The Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences policy and planning committee condemned outside media coverage of the protest as "sensationalistic" and said it was "distressed by reports that conflate on-campus protests with the actions of bad actors from outside of our community", while condemning all forms of discrimination.[149]
Columbia Law School professors condemned the mass arrests as well as the suspensions of students in a letter[150] to the university's leadership, calling the actions taken by Columbia's administration "concerning" and saying they "lack transparency".[11]
Allegations of antisemitism
Multiple sources have quoted Jewish students as feeling unsafe or targeted as a result of the protests.[10][64] Criticism increased when a January 2024 recording of one organizer, Khymani James, saying "Zionists don't deserve to live" was released.[91] James apologized when the remarks were publicized in April 2024. James said on X: "I affirm the sanctity of all life and the movement for liberation."[151] At Columbia, U.S. Representative
Kathy Manning described seeing signs
calling for the destruction of Israel. Freshman student Nicholas Baum described hearing protesters "calling for Hamas to blow away Tel Aviv and Israel."[152]
Pro-Palestinian Jewish protesters have rebutted assertions that the protest is antisemitic and unsafe for Jewish students,[12][72] and pro-Israeli counter-protesters have called pro-Palestinian Jewish protesters "fake Jews" or "
kapos".[44] Progressive and student opinion writers have argued that national media may be pushing a skewed narrative by characterizing the protest as antisemitic and hateful.[149][153][154] Some protesters have alleged that agitators and non-students were responsible for antisemitic incidents.[11]
Susan Bernofsky, a Columbia professor, said: "I do not feel that this project is antisemitic in any way. I do feel that the students are highly critical of Israeli politics. And I do not feel threatened as a Jewish faculty member in any way by what's happening on this campus – except by the arrest of many of our students."[155] In reference to protesters,
John McWhorter, a Columbia professor, said, "I find it very hard to imagine that they are antisemitic", adding that there is "a fine line between questioning Israel's right to exist and questioning Jewish people's right to exist" but that "some of the rhetoric amid the protests crosses it."[156]
Media coverage
The occupation, ensuing crackdowns, and national spread had extensive media coverage. Some reporting by mainstream media outlets was decried as misleading and biased against protesters.[157]
In an article for
al-Jazeera,
University of Michigan student Ahmad Ibsais claimed that media coverage of the protest movement was "sensationalist" and that accusations of antisemitism were false.[158]The New Republic alleged that the true causes of the protests were overshadowed by coverage of antisemitism and police crackdowns.[157] The Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Columbia condemned supposed inaccurate and discriminatory reporting of the protest.[159] Deputy Editor Noah Bernstein of the
Columbia Daily Spectator said that outside media coverage was generally slanted against the protesters.[160] Students were reportedly weary of the media, with some refusing to be interviewed.[161] The media was also criticized for its claims of
outside agitators at the protests, which has been called
misinformation.[162]
Columbia's
campus radio station
WKCR-FM partially suspended its usual programming to cover the demonstrations.[63] The station was applauded for its coverage of the situation, especially during the second raid.
NBC News said WKCR was praised for its live coverage of the event.[163]Business Insider praised the anchors' professionalism during the raid.[164]The Guardian called the radio broadcast "chaotic and thrilling".[165]The Nation said the student journalists were better than most
mainstream media outlets.[166] Other student journalists were also praised for their coverage, including from the Columbia Daily Spectator.[167]
During the second raid
Early on April 30, Columbia suspended press access to campus, and said only identified students and essential personnel would be allowed in.[168] In preparation to enter the campus, the NYPD closed multiple streets in and around the campus, the administration locked down Hamilton Hall, and all freedom of movement was restricted. In an
op-ed for
The New York Times, Mara Gay wrote that, because of these restrictions, journalists were unable to fully assess what occurred during the second raid and could not verify allegations of police brutality. Moreover, WKCR and other student journalists were not allowed to leave their building due to threat of arrest.[169] Some outside journalists were pushed off campus or threatened if they approached the scene.[170] Jake Offenhartz of the
Associated Press called it "one of the most frustrating nights for press access I've experienced as a reporter".[171]
^"US college protests: Who are the student groups and others involved". Reuters. April 30, 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024. Among the lead student groups in the coalition are the Columbia chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine. The two decades-old anti-Zionism advocacy groups that protest Israel's military occupation have chapters across the country that have been key to protests on other campuses.
^Bayly, Lucy; Zdanowicz, Christina; Duster, Chandelis (April 23, 2024).
"What it's like in the encampments". CNN.
Archived from the original on April 25, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
^Barghouti, Omar; Jones, Tanaquil; Ransby, Barbara (May 3, 2024).
"Let us remember the last time students occupied Columbia University". The Guardian.
ISSN0261-3077.
Archived from the original on May 3, 2024. Retrieved May 3, 2024. From 1968 to the 1980s to 2024, the often intersecting issues of war, racism and colonialism, took center stage in Columbia justice movements, reflecting larger campus and international struggles raging at the time. Each of these periods was unique, but parallels are clear.
^Perry, Nick; Collins, Dave; Price, Michelle L. (April 23, 2024).
"Pro-Palestinian protests sweep US college campuses following mass arrests at Columbia". The Associated Press.
Archived from the original on April 27, 2024. Retrieved April 29, 2024. "We saw signs indicating that Israel should be destroyed," she said after leaving the Morningside Heights campus ... Nicholas Baum, a 19-year-old Jewish freshman who lives in a Jewish theological seminary building two blocks from Columbia's campus, said protesters over the weekend were "calling for Hamas to blow away Tel Aviv and Israel." He said some of the protesters shouting antisemitic slurs were not students.