'Young Jews are criticizing Israel as an _expression_ of their progressive Jewishness'
Many hours after a deadline had been set at Columbia for dispersing the unauthorized "Gaza Solidarity Encampment," dozens of students were staying put inside, vowing not to leave until the university accepted their demands to cut ties with Israel.
Three hours after the deadline had passed, the university announced that it had begun to deliver on its threat to suspend those students who refused to evacuate the west lawn. But members of the encampment said they were unaware of any students who had been notified of such disciplinary action.
At no point during the day were police brought in to dismantle the encampment.
The drama at the Morningside Heights campus, which coincided with the final day of spring semester classes, began in the morning when the university president, Minouche Shafik, announced that negotiations with student representatives over the dismantling of the encampment had broken down. Left with no choice, she wrote in a letter to the Columbia community, the university would seek alternative "internal" options for dismantling the encampment because it had created a hostile atmosphere for Jewish students on campus and was threatening to disrupt the annual graduation ceremony scheduled for two weeks' time.
A few hours later, the university announced that students would have until 2 p.m. to clear the lawn and that those who did not leave the premises would be suspended subject to investigation.
Anticipating a major standoff between the administration and the student protesters, hundreds of journalists descended on Morningside Heights. For the past two weeks, Columbia has restricted access to the campus to university ID holders. The journalists, who formed a line two blocks long, were told they could enter the campus starting at 2 p.m.
A representative of the university spokesperson's office escorted members of the media onto campus exactly at the moment that the ultimatum took effect. But if they were expecting administrators to barge into the encampment at that moment with suspension notices in hand – or even worse, that police would enter the enclosed area and forcibly evict the protesters, like they did nearly two weeks ago at another encampment – that did not happen.
Instead, what greeted them was the sight of many hundreds of Columbia students – the overwhelming majority of them women – marching around the enclosed encampment chanting: "Disclose. Divest. We will not stop. We will not rest." Many of the marchers had their heads wrapped in keffiyehs and held Palestinian flags.
In exchange for dismantling the encampment, the students have been demanding that the university divest from companies with ties to Israel, disclose all its investments, end its joint programs with Israel, and grant amnesty to all students and faculty facing disciplinary action for participating in the protests.
One lone Jewish student stood on the outskirts of the march holding a sign that read: "Where are the anti-Hamas chants? Release the hostages now."
Two Jewish students, both wearing yarmulkes, had climbed a wall near the entrance to Low Library, overlooking the marchers, and began waving big Israeli flags. David Lederer, a sophomore engineering student, said he had left campus for a few days out of fear for his personal safety. "But I knew that if there were lots of journalists around, like there are today, the protesters would be on their guard," said the Israeli flag-holder.
Dozens of Columbia faculty and staff members, wearing orange vests, took turns standing guard outside the entrance to the encampment. Linking arms, they appeared ready to stave off a possible incursion by New York City police or the National Guard.
A protester holds a sign during a march on Columbia University campus in support of a protest encampment supporting Palestinians, despite a 2 P.M. deadline issued by university officials to disband or face suspension, on Monday.Credit: David Dee Delgado/ Reuters
As the hours passed, and the university appeared to be making no moves to discipline the protesters in the encampment, the chants grew quieter, the marchers dispersed, and the crowd of students and journalists packing the campus began thinning out. For a moment, when the sunny skies suddenly gave way to a brief rain shower, it even seemed that the encampment might succumb to the weather before it did to the administration.
In related news, a class action suit was filed on Monday against the trustees of Columbia University for not dismantling the encampment and thereby denying Jewish students a safe environment for learning. Because of the encampment, the suit claims, many Jewish students had been forced to leave campus and attend classes online, which is not something they had planned on when enrolling at Columbia.
Meanwhile, 500 Columbia alumni signed an open letter to Shafik on Monday, demanding that she act more forcefully against the anti-Israel protest movement on campus.
"Columbia must remove illegal encampments and take swift and strong disciplinary action against students engaged in hate speech, threats, and criminal conduct," it said.
"Empty rhetoric is inadequate. Jewish students require more robust action to feel secure, and all students deserve a campus where activities core to the university's mission proceed free of disruption."
Students march on Columbia University campus in support of a protest encampment supporting Palestinians on Monday.Credit: Caitlin Ochs / Reuters
In its warning issued earlier in the day, Columbia said that students suspended for the interim would be restricted from all university campuses, facilities and property, including dormitories, and that their campus ID cards would be deactivated. In addition, they would not be permitted to attend classes, take exams, complete the spring semester, and – if they are seniors – graduate.
Depending on how serious their offenses were, Columbia said, students could also face suspension for a term or more and even expulsion.
On the other hand, students who agreed leave the encampment voluntarily, identify themselves to a university official and sign a form committing to abide by all university rules in the future, will be eligible to complete the semester in good standing.
Ben Chang, Columbia's vice president for communications, would not say how many students had been suspended, how they were notified, or how the university was able to determine which students were part of the encampment.