Columbia University Pro-Palestinian Protesters Arrested: 100+ Demonstrators Detained by NYPD

More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Thursday on the campus of Columbia University after its president, Nemat Minouche Shafik, authorized New York police to set up a camp with protesting students. about Israel’s actions in Gaza evacuation. “Out of concern for the safety of the Columbia campus, I have authorized the New York Police Department to begin evacuating the campus…,” Shafik said in a statement. She said that the activists broke the rules of the university prohibiting demonstrations without permission and that they were not willing to engage with the administration.

New York Mayor Eric Adams said police made more than 108 arrests without violence or injury for a crime. Columbia began suspending students who participated in the camp, which was deemed an unauthorized protest. At Wednesday’s hearing before a House of Representatives committee on anti-Semitism in universities, Shafik was criticized by Republicans. She responded that the university was facing a “moral crisis” with anti-Semitism on campus and that Columbia had taken strong action against the alleged perpetrators.

Columbia activists are calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to US military aid to Israel and divestment of the university from companies that profit from Israel’s aggression. Meanwhile, about 500 protesters marched at the University of Southern California on Thursday in support of Asna Tabassum, a Muslim student whose valedictorian speech was canceled by the university for security reasons. Tabassum and her supporters say that the university tried to expel her because she was against Israel’s activities in Gaza.