United States – Pro-Palestinian activists took over a building at Columbia University already on Tuesday, raising the ante, as the administration has become hard on the students, insisting on keeping the tents set up on the campus in New York City.
Banner Drop and Standoff
During that event, protesters entered Hamilton Hall—a place famous for student protests since the 1960s—and dropped a banner that said “Hind’s Hall” down from the upper floor. Certain outsiders obstructed the doors, using the outdoor tables to create their barricade and linking their arms in front, as reported by Reuters.
“This building is liberated in honor of Hind, a six-year-old Palestinian child murdered in Gaza by the Israeli occupation forces funded by Columbia University,” shouted the protester from inside, with those outside by each one word.
Israel has maintained in its operation against Hamas fighters in Gaza that despite the claims of hiding among civilians by the militants.
Police Response and Campus Restrictions
Police officers from NYPD arrived from outside the school campus within minutes in unmarked cars, according to a report in the Columbia Spectator newspaper. Its report claimed police would get inside the school premises only if there was someone hurt.
Finally, after three hours of students in the building, the Morningside School campus was said to be less accessible effective immediately. It is accessible only to students who stay at the campus’ residential buildings and to staff who will provide essential services.
The sanction will remain in place until circumstances permit otherwise. “The safety of this whole community is our number one priority. Thank you in advance for your patience, support, and understanding.”
On Monday, the activists, who were pro-Palestinian students, were suspended by the university after they refused to dismantle a protest camp that the Ivy League school proclaimed there was now a stalemate after the talks to end the demonstration.
Talks Fail, Camp Stands
As University President Nemat Minouche Shafik reported, negotiators from the students’ side and the academic leaders sat for days but were unsuccessful in convincing the demonstrators, who had set up over 40 tents, to remove them.
The criticism at Columbia belongs to the series of protests roiling the university campuses in the U.S., and one among them was the University of Texas at Austin, where the policemen arrested more than two dozen students by pepper spraying them at a pro-Palestinian rally.
National Trend of Campus Unrest
In the morning, Cal Poly Humboldt University officials were at the campus, where students residing in a school building were occupying and arresting some of them, based on reports from local media.
The arrests followed after police had already stated that after 11:30 pm, the people who did not dissipate would be arrested for gathering illegally, as reported by Reuters.
Earlier, the campus was prohibited to all people except students and faculty because of the continued strike. … Neither the official college body nor a police representative was able to provide a statement or a breakdown of how many students could have been arrested.