Police arrested more than 100 people on Columbia University’s campus on April 18 after protesters set up an encampment on the campus to protest against Israel’s military actions against the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that 108 people were arrested for trespassing on the university’s property. Police ensured that there was no violence or injury during the disturbance, he said.
“I know the conflict in the Middle East has left many of us grieving and angry; it’s a painful moment for our city, for our country, and for the globe,” he said.
“New Yorkers have every right to express their sorrow, but that heartbreak does not give you the right to harass others, to spread hate. We will not be a city of lawlessness.”
The arrests were made after Columbia University President Nemat Minouche Shafik authorized the New York Police Department (NYPD) to clear the encampment from the South Lawn of the campus.
Ms. Shafik said the university had issued a written warning to students participating in the encampment and offered to continue discussions if they agreed to disperse, but they rejected these efforts.
“This is a challenging moment, and these are steps that I deeply regret having to take.”
“All University students participating in the encampment have been informed they are suspended,“ she wrote. ”At this time, the participants in the encampment are not authorized to be on University property and are trespassing.”
At least three students have received suspension notices from Barnard College, an affiliate of Columbia, for participating in the encampment, according to the pro-Palestinian advocacy group Institute for Middle East Understanding.
One of them is Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
The congressional committee on April 17 accused Ms. Shafik of failing to protect Jewish students on campus, echoing accusations leveled against three other elite university leaders at a hearing last year that sent shockwaves through higher education.
She responded by saying the university was facing a “moral crisis” with anti-Semitism on campus and that Columbia had taken strong actions against suspected perpetrators.
Protesters at Columbia have demanded a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and an end to U.S. military assistance for Israel, as well as the university’s divestment from companies profiting from Israel’s incursion.
The encampment was organized by a student-led coalition of groups, including Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Incidents at the 270-year-old university have included an unauthorized protest on April 4 of pro-Palestinian students with signs bearing messages such as “Globalize the Intifada,” a reference to the periods of Palestinian terrorism against Israel during 1987–1993 and 2000–2005. Jewish students have complained of anti-Semitic graffiti and anti-Jewish verbal and physical abuse.
Other signs on campus have included the messages “Zionist Donors and Trustees Hands Off Our University” and “Zionism is Terrorism.”
