2024-04-30 06:17:41
Columbia University launches endowment for students supporting the Palestinian cause
Tensions escalated Monday at New York’s Columbia University between demonstrators supporting the Palestinian cause and the university administration, and students refused to leave the tents where they were protesting “except by force,” despite a threatening ultimatum to be expelled if they did not disperse. according to Agence France-Presse.
Columbia University in New York is considered the starting point that sparked the pro-Palestinian protests before they spread widely to universities across the United States.
In a statement, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik urged student protesters to leave their tents after negotiations between protesters and the university administration failed.
In a document distributed to protesters titled “Notice to Camp”, the university asked them to evacuate the premises by 2:00 p.m. (18:00 GMT), otherwise “you will be dismissed pending an investigation”, according to the text.
A protester carries a disciplinary warning at Columbia University (AFP)
Students pledged to defend their tents erected in the main garden of the New York University campus, despite the university’s threat to evict them.
They immediately called for a demonstration followed by a press conference to “protect the camp”.
Ben Zhang, vice president of communications at Columbia University, told reporters: “We have begun suspending students (administratively) as another step to ensure the safety of our campus. »
At the end of the alert period, dozens of young men, wearing masks covering their faces, walked around the university campus, applauded and chanted “Free Palestine”, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent, confirming that About fifty men were killed. people remained in the camp.
Shafiq confirmed that the university had been in talks since last week with protest leaders regarding the evacuation of the tents, but “unfortunately we were unable to reach an agreement.” For his part, Joseph Holley, a professor at Columbia University, said the university’s statement amounted to “a capitulation to external political pressure.”
He told the French Agency that the management of the institution chooses to start “from the postulate that the simple presence of a political speech in the name of Palestine constitutes a threat to Jews like me”, which is “ridiculous and dangerous.
University of Texas police arrest pro-Palestinian protester at University of Texas at Austin (AFP)
Ten days ago, the student movement was launched at the prestigious Columbia University in New York. Its reach extended to several university campuses in the United States after American police arrested around a hundred pro-Palestinian students who had begun occupying the university’s lawns the day after an intervention by its president at the Congress, in which she defended herself against accusations of anti-Palestinism. -Semitism in the educational establishment.
Since then, hundreds of people, including students, professors and activists, have been briefly arrested, some detained, and legal complaints filed against them at several universities across the country.
Images of riot police intervening on university campuses, after being summoned by the directors of these educational institutions, have spread around the world, recalling similar events that occurred in the United States during the Vietnam War.
Texas State Troopers patrol the University of Texas at Austin (AFP)
tension
Protests against the war in Gaza, which has led to the deaths of large numbers of Palestinian civilians, have posed a challenge for American university presidents who are trying to balance the right to free speech with complaints that which the demonstrations turned into anti-Semitism and threats. of violence.
The protests have led to an escalation of debate over free speech, anti-Zionism and what constitutes anti-Semitism.
A part of American society accuses American universities of not deploying enough efforts to fight anti-Semitism, which led this winter to the resignation of the presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Students and professors at their university are on the one hand accused of seeking to censor political speech, and several personalities, including members of Congress, confirm on the other that activists fuel anti-Semitism.
Columbia University has confirmed that many Jewish students have left its campus.
Students continue to demonstrate at a Palestinian support camp at Columbia University despite a deadline set by university officials to disband it or face expulsion (Reuters)
In her statement, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik said, “Many of our Jewish and other students have also found the atmosphere unbearable in recent weeks. A lot of people have left campus and it’s a tragedy. »
She added: “We are urging those in the camp to voluntarily disperse and we are exploring alternatives internally to end this crisis as quickly as possible. »
She continued: “Anti-Semitic comments and actions are unacceptable, and calls for violence are simply abhorrent. The right of one group to express its opinions cannot come at the expense of the right of another group to speak, teach and learn.
Organizers of the university protests deny accusations of anti-Semitism, stressing that their movements target the Israeli government, and demand that it be judged over the war in Gaza.
They also point out that the most threatening incidents on campus are caused by non-student instigators.
Shafik confirmed in her statement that Columbia University would not sever ties with companies linked to the Jewish state, which is a major demand of this student movement, but she announced that Columbia “proposed to invest in the field of health and education in Gaza. »
The university said it proposed speeding up review of student divestment proposals and improving transparency.
Additionally, Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who questioned the two resigning university presidents during their congressional hearing, called Shafiq’s statement “shameful.”
She wrote on the “X” platform: “Not once did she mention the protection of Jewish students against the anti-Semitism that is rampant in Colombia. »
At the University of Texas at Austin, a camp was also dismantled and several people were arrested. On Monday, police used pepper spray against protesters. “No camping will be allowed,” conservative Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on social media.
Lawyer Paul Quincy, who defends those arrested in Austin, estimated to Agence France-Presse that “the number of arrests has reached 80 cases,” noting that the arrests “are still continuing.”
In this context, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said: “We respect the right to peaceful protest. But we strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements we have heard recently and… all the hate speech and threats of violence that are circulating.”
Over the weekend, 100 people were arrested at a Boston college campus and a protest camp there was dismantled, and 80 others were arrested at a Missouri college, 72 at an Arizona campus and 23 others at Indiana University.
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