Columbia University Extends Remote Classes Amid Intense Protests Over Gaza War

Columbia University has extended remote classes at its main campus in New York City for the rest of the term amid intense protests over the Gaza war that have spread to US colleges across the country.

The hybrid learning comes as some students have reported antisemitic harassment around the Columbia campus.

Some 133 were arrested on Monday in protests at New York University.

Dozens of people have also been arrested in rallies at Yale, and Harvard has restricted access to the campus.

Gaza war demonstrations have also erupted at colleges in the US Midwest and on the West Coast, where one campus was closed.

Nine students were arrested Tuesday morning in Minneapolis while trying to set up a protest camp in front of a library on the University of Minnesota campus.

In New York on Tuesday, hundreds of protesters gathered near the NYU campus in Washington Square Park.

The crowd chanted “shame, shame” as protesters criticized New York City police and university administrators.

Police were called to NYU on Monday to break up protests after university officials warned hundreds of protesters to leave.

University leaders accused the group of breaching school barricades and said they were behaving in an “unruly, disruptive and abusive” manner.

Authorities at NYU also suggested that activists unaffiliated with the university had shown up.

Dylan, an NYU student who declined to give his last name to the BBC, said NYU administrators are “trying to flip the script and say this was a disturbing and painful complaint.”

“We were chanting. We were chanting. We were drumming. If that represents violence, I don’t know what NYU is reasoning about.”

In Columbia, officials said on Tuesday that an ongoing protest camp on the grounds of the university – also in Manhattan – is against the rules.

“Columbia students have the right to protest but are not allowed to disrupt campus life or harass and intimidate fellow students and members of our community,” university spokesman Ben Chang told reporters. -statement, but did not provide any details on disciplinary measures.

On Monday night, Columbia provost Angela Olinto announced that students will have the option to attend classes remotely at the Ivy League institution’s main Morningside Campus until the last day of classes on April 29.

“Safety is our highest priority,” she said in an email.

Jewish students have expressed concerns about antisemitism on and around the Columbia campus.

On Monday, President Joe Biden said he condemned both “the antisemitic protests” as well as “those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians”.

A student filed an NYPD hate crime report Monday saying he was hit in the head with a rock while carrying an Israeli flag, the New York Post reported.

Shai Davidai, a Columbia University professor who has been outspoken about his support for Israel, said he was banned from campus and had his ID “suspended.”

Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine said they “firmly reject any form of hatred or bigotry” and dismissed “bleeding people who do not represent us”.

Columbia University President Nemat Shafik said that tensions on campus “were exploited and exacerbated by individuals not affiliated with Columbia who came to campus to pursue their own agendas.”

Last week Dr Shafik defended her efforts to tackle antisemitism on campus as she testified to a US congressional committee.

Also last week, New York City police arrested more than 100 people amid Gaza war demonstrations on the Columbia campus, including the daughter of Democratic congressman Ilhan Omar.

The site’s turmoil has created a dilemma for higher education officials as they try to balance free speech rights with the need to maintain a safe and inclusive learning space.

Harvard University has closed public access to the center of its campus until Friday in anticipation of similar student protests.

On the US West Coast, pro-Palestinian students set up “solidarity camps” on Monday at the University of California, Berkeley, and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.

At Cal Poly, the campus has been closed until at least Wednesday because of the “dangerous and volatile situation,” school officials said, which included students using tents and beds to prevent disruption. on one of the buildings.

A similar camp was established at the University of Michigan.

Activists have been calling on universities to “get away from genocide”.

They accuse colleges of using student tuition money to invest in companies that support Israel’s war in Gaza.

Israel strongly denies any suggestion that it is committing genocide in the Palestinian enclave, although the International Court of Justice has called the allegation “credible”. .

The war began when Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and driving another 253 back to Gaza as enemies.

More than 34,180 people – most of them children and women – have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry says.

With reporting by Rebecca Hartmann in New York

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