How US politician Ilhan Omar’s daughter was ensnared in anti-Israel protests that brought an elite college to its knees

One day after the president of the esteemed university was questioned by US Congress on claims of anti-Semitism on campus, more than 100 pro-Palestinian student demonstrators were taken into custody by police on Thursday at Columbia University in New York.

Following the Gaza War, the students demanded that the institution, which has an exchange program with Tel Aviv University, boycott any events related to Israel. Jewish students at the university cheered the evacuation of anti-Israel demonstrators who had set up camp on campus on Thursday, expressing concern for their safety due to the disorderly protest.

PRO-HAMAS, ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST
I feel safer because of it. It gives me the impression that the administration is finally carrying out its policies, and the truth is that a large number of people who support the administration’s anti-Israel, pro-Hamas cause have emerged from the cracks on this particular day, according to sophomore Jonny Lederer, who spoke to the New York Post. The New York Times reports that one of the people seized was the daughter of US politician Ilhan Omar, who has been summoned to appear in court.

DIAMOND OF ILHAN OMAR’S
The daughter of Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, Isra Hirsi, said on Thursday that she had been suspended from Barnard College due to her participation in disruptive anti-Israel demonstrations on the Morningside campus of Columbia University.

The 21-year-old said on X, “I just received notice that I am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.” Nemat Shafik, the president of the university, asked for police assistance to remove the demonstrators because she believed they had broken school security policies.

HAMAS ATTACK, October 7
Since the October 7 Hamas assault and Israel’s subsequent bombing of Gaza, universities in the US have been the center of a heated cultural discussion as many students’ pro-Palestinian views sparked charges of anti-Semitism. The presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania were asked to testify by Congressional Republicans on the matter, and Claudine Gay of Harvard University resigned not long after.

According to Columbia, students who took part in the unapproved protest—a tent encampment—were beginning to face suspension. According to an email from a university representative to the news agency Reuters, “We are continuing to identify them and will be sending out formal notifications.” According to the pro-Palestinian advocacy organization Institute for Middle East Understanding, Barnard College, an offshoot of Columbia University, has suspended at least three students, including Isra Hirsi, for their involvement in the encampment.

REMEMBERING THE VIETNAM WAR
The confrontation, which brings to mind the anti-Vietnam War protests that took place at Columbia University over 50 years ago, is the most recent in a string of protests that have disrupted airports, university campuses, and bridges since the Israeli-Palestinian crisis escalated anew on October 7. Human rights groups have seen an increase in prejudice and hatred against Jews, Arabs, and Muslims in recent months, in addition to the growth of rallies.

Shafik was accused by the congressional committee on Wednesday of not doing enough to safeguard Jewish students on campus, which was in line with the charges made against three other prominent university administrators at a session that shocked the higher education community last year. She retorted that Columbia has taken aggressive measures against suspected antisemitic offenders and that the institution was experiencing a “moral crisis” due to antisemitism on campus.