Suspension of Student Protesters Begins at Columbia University Amid Ongoing Encampment

NEW YORK—Under increasing pressure, the president of Columbia University started suspending students involved in a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus who had exceeded a newly set deadline.

Columbia University had urged students in a notice to dismantle the encampment voluntarily by 2 p.m. ET on Monday, warning that failure to do so would result in suspension and exclusion from completing the semester.

Despite the passing of the deadline, numerous tents persisted on Monday. Given the continued presence of many tents hours after the stipulated time, Columbia announced its intention to suspend certain protesters.

Protesting students gathered at around 4 p.m. after marching around the campus in circles, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans.

Altercations between police and protesters were seen, and one arrest was made.

One of the speakers said that they would stay until 7 p.m. “at least” after resting and getting some water.

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Darializa Avila, a Columbia alumni who studied Middle Eastern studies, was at the campus to support calls for establishing a Palestinian state.

“I’m here to support the students and their demands. They’re here demanding that the university end its complicity in Israeli apartheid and the ongoing genocide of Palestinians,” Ms. Avila told The Epoch Times.

“That includes the rights of everybody, regardless of background, ethnic background, religious background, that all citizens be treated equally, the right of refugees to return to their homes, an end to the siege on Gaza. And, you know, equality for everybody in the region.”

When asked what she thought about Hamas and their attacks, she answered: “So you know, this is a conflict that has been going on for 75 years. And by conflict, I mean an occupation. That is, by international law—illegal. And so these demands, this campaign for divestment began eight years ago.”

David Lederer, a Jewish student studying financial engineering at Columbia, shared his view on the protest about the plight of the Palestinians.

“Last week was complete anarchy and chaos on campus. That’s why I did not feel safe on campus. I came out with an Israeli flag for one hour, they stole my flag and lit it on fire. They stole it,” he said of the protesters.

He told The Epoch Times that his brother had to go to the ER because he got hit in the head with a rock.

“People had water splashed on them. People got in their faces, like real harassment. And [some] people said, go back to Poland, like explicitly anti-semitic things. So things got really heated last week, I went home after that for a couple of days. That’s when we saw the media really pick up on the story, [as well as] the politicians with it.”

Mr. Lederer thinks that the aggressive environment has calmed down drastically due to media coverage.

He also alleges that some suspensions of pro-Palestinian students have been revoked.

“We know previously they revoked a lot of suspensions, which was infuriating to me,” he said.