Columbia University warns of expulsion of students who occupy building due to war in Gaza

The University of Colombiain New Yorksaid Tuesday that students who occupy a campus as part of pro-Palestine protests risk being expelled from their academic programs, the latest move in a standoff with campus authorities.

“Students who occupy a building are at risk of expulsion“The university’s public relations office said in a statement, adding that the protesters were given “the chance to leave in peace”, but instead they rejected her and escalated the situation.

LOOK HERE: Hamilton Hall: Columbia Building taken over by students evoking historic protests

The occupation of Hamilton Hall of the prestigious university occurred hours after the center’s authorities announced that they had begun suspending students for failing to comply with an eviction order from the camp they had set up in the gardens.

The group Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine highlighted that the same building was also the focus of student protests in 1968.

Young people with their faces covered broke windows and blocked the building’s entrances with tables, according to images shared on social media.

“After 206 days of genocide and more than 34 thousand Palestinian martyrs, members of the Palestinian community Colombia They recaptured Hamilton Hall shortly after midnight“the group said in a statement, alluding to the war in Israel in Link.

The group also noted that it changed the name of the building to “Hind’s Hall”, in honor of a six-year-old Gaza girl killed in the Israeli offensive against the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas.

The protesters assured that they will remain in the building until their demands are met, including that the Columbia University reject all funding linked to Israel.

The center rejected this demand. The rector, Minouche Shafiksaid on Monday that “they couldn’t reach an agreement”With the students, according to a statement.

On Tuesday, as crowds began to gather outside the center, a small police presence was established on the Columbia campus, AFP found.

“As we said yesterday, the disturbances on campus have created a threatening environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty.“said the Columbia spokesman, Ben Changwho accused the occupants of having committed acts of “vandalism”.

Seizure of the building was rejected by the president Joe Bidenwhich called for guaranteeing students’ freedom of expression and preventing anti-Semitic acts.

MORE INFORMATION: Columbia University suspends pro-Palestinian protesters who defy ultimatum

“The president believes taking a campus by force is absolutely the wrong approach“said the spokesperson for the National Security Council, John Kirby. “This is not an example of peaceful protest.” he added.

Coast to Coast

The protests spread to the country’s universities. Many set up camps on campus lawns after about 100 protesters were first arrested in Columbia on April 18.

At the University of Texasin Austinpolice clashed with protesters on Monday, including using pepper spray, and made arrests while dismantling a camp, adding to more than 350 people detained across the country over the weekend.

Paulo Quinziof the Austin lawyers union that helps detainees, told AFP that it calculates “at least 80 arrests”.

The protests against Gaza War posed a challenge to university authorities to balance the right to free speech with complaints that the demonstrations led to hatred and anti-Semitism.

“Right to peaceful assembly”

The UN human rights chief, Turkish Volkerexpressed concern on Tuesday about the heavy-handed measures taken to disperse the protests and said that “Freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly are fundamental to society”.

Turk added that “incitement to violence or hatred based on identity or views, real or presumed, must be strongly repudiated”.

Shafik, in his statement on Monday, said: “Many of our Jewish students, and other students as well, have found the atmosphere intolerable in recent weeks. Many have left campus and this is a tragedy” he said, adding that “anti-Semitic language and acts are unacceptable.”

SEE TOO: Students occupy iconic Columbia University building in protests against the war in Gaza

Protest organizers deny accusations of anti-Semitism, arguing instead that their actions are directed at the Israeli government and its handling of the conflict in Gaza.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, on October 7, which left around 1,170 people dead, most of them civilians, according to an AFP balance with official Israeli data.

Israel’s retaliation killed at least 34,535 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-administered territory.

Source: Elcomercio