Columbia suspends students after the unanswered plea to stop the Gaza camp

NEW YORK: On Monday, when student protestors disobeyed an order to leave, Columbia University, the heart of pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have rocked college campuses around the country, started suspending them.
The action comes after almost two weeks of anti-Israel demonstrations that have rocked colleges and universities throughout the nation since over 100 protestors were detained at Columbia on April 18.

Authorities at the esteemed institution in New York ordered the protest encampment to be dismantled by 2 p.m. (1800 GMT) in the most recent raid, failing which students will face disciplinary punishment.
A student, speaking at a news conference after the deadline, quoted the death toll in Gaza as saying, “These repulsive scare tactics mean nothing compared to the deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians.”

The student, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “We will not move until Columbia meets our demands or… are moved by force.”
Ben Chang, vice president of communications at Columbia, said a few hours later that the university had “begun suspending students as part of this next phase of our efforts to ensure safety on our campus.”
He said that warnings had been sent to the students that they would be “placed on suspension, ineligible to complete the semester or graduate, and will be restricted from all academic, residential, and recreational spaces.”
In the meanwhile, over 350 people were arrested nationally over the weekend as police used pepper spray against demonstrators and broke up an encampment at the University of Texas in Austin on Monday.
On social media, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said, “No encampments will be allowed.”
“Instead, arrests are being made.”
AFP was informed by Paul Quinzi of the Austin Lawyers Guild that represents the inmates that there had been “at least 80 arrests, and they are still going.”
With the high number of Palestinian civilian deaths from the Gaza conflict, protests have presented a challenge to university officials who must strike a balance between allowing free speech and responding to accusations that anti-Semitic and hateful remarks have become commonplace at the gatherings.
The globe has seen videos of police in riot gear being called to many campuses to disperse protests, bringing up memories of the anti-Vietnam War protest movement.
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“Many of our Jewish students, and other students as well, have found the atmosphere intolerable in recent weeks,” said Columbia University president Minouche Shafik in a statement released on Monday revealing the breakdown of negotiations. “Many have left campus, and that is a tragedy,” she said.
“Anti-Semitic language and actions are unacceptable and calls for violence are simply abhorrent.”
The protest leaders refute allegations of anti-Semitism, stating that their activities are directed against the Israeli government and its handling of the Gaza situation.
Additionally, they maintain that several confrontations were planned by agitators who weren’t students.
Administrators emphasize the significance of maintaining order on campus for test study as the school year comes to an end.
“One group’s rights to express their views cannot come at the expense of another group’s right to speak, teach and learn,” Shafik said.
One protesting graduate student, who preferred to go by “Z,” said, “It’s finals week, everyone is still working on their finals, I still have finals to do.”
“But ultimately, school is only temporary,” the demonstrator said to AFP.
The White House under President Joe Biden has likewise made an effort to balance denouncing alleged anti-Semitic incidents with protecting the freedom to demonstrate.
“We understand that Americans are going through a difficult time, and free speech must be exercised within the bounds of the law,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday.
But Biden’s Republican rivals have jumped on the opportunity, denouncing the demonstrations as anti-Semitic and threatening to withhold government money if they continue.
“What is going on at Columbia is a complete scandal. Reiterating his demand that Shafik step down, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on X that “anti-Semitic students and faculty alike are taking over the campus.”
At Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, suspensions were also in place at the time. According to president Martha Pollack, student protestors had been “dishonest” in their claims that they had no intention of setting up a tent camp on campus.
Students were given many chances to relocate the campsite or face consequences throughout the course of several days of discussions.
“They said no,” wrote Pollack. “Therefore, more temporary suspensions… are forthcoming.”
According to an AFP count of Israeli government estimates, on October 7, Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented offensive on Israel that resulted in the deaths of almost 1,170 Palestinians, marking the beginning of the Gaza war.
The health ministry of the Hamas-run enclave in Gaza reports that about 34,500 people have died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory operation, the majority of them were women and children.