Columbia Suspends Over 65 Students After Gaza Protest in Campus Library
By The Media Line Staff
Columbia University has suspended more than 65 students after a pro-Palestinian protest shut down the main campus library earlier this week, a university official said Friday. The suspended students, accused of violating university rules, are barred from attending final exams and can only enter campus to access their dormitories.
The university also banned 33 other individuals from campus, including students from other colleges and alumni who took part in the protest.
Wednesday’s demonstration marked one of this year’s largest campus protests related to the Israel-Gaza war and resulted in the arrest of 80 students. Protesters occupied one of the reading rooms in Butler Library for roughly four hours, chanting, beating drums, and displaying banners that read “Strike for Gaza” and “Liberated Zone”. The group reportedly renamed the space the “Bassel Al-Araj Popular University”, referencing a Palestinian activist killed by Israeli forces in 2017.
The New York Police Department was called in to remove protesters after university security required identification for those trying to exit. Two public safety officers were injured in the standoff.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, condemned the protests and described the involvement of the police as unfortunate but necessary. “Columbia strongly condemns violence on our campus, antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination, some of which we witnessed today,” she wrote.
The US government’s antisemitism task force, established under President Donald Trump, praised the university’s response in a statement on Thursday and expressed its confidence that the university would “take the appropriate disciplinary actions for those involved in this act.”
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