Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University called for a strike Tuesday, asking students to skip school and urging college officials to divest from Israel as classes resumed for the fall semester.
Dozens of demonstrators with noisemakers and megaphones — some with their backpacks — picketed against the war in Gaza on 116th St. and Broadway, as their classmates tried to push through the crowd to one of Columbia’s limited entry points as campus remains closed to the public.
Two protesters were taken into custody; charges were pending as of early afternoon.
“As we prepare to begin a new semester, Gazan students have no universities left to which they can return,” read a statement from Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of more than 100 student clubs. “We do not deserve a first day of school.”
Hours into the demonstration, one protester with a megaphone announced the main campus steps outside Low Library had been vandalized with paint. The iconic Columbia bronze sculpture “Alma Mater” had been doused in red; it was later hosed off.
College officials said the coalition’s call for a picket did not disrupt school operations, while warning that such a work stoppage would violate university policy.
“The University welcomed new and returning students for a productive first day of classes on Morningside Campus,” said Columbia spokeswoman Erin Mola in a statement. “As we begin the new semester, we are focused on our mission of teaching, creating, and advancing knowledge and ensuring a safe, respectful campus environment for our community.”
The protests followed a relatively quiet summer for the Manhattan campus, after last spring’s protests and Columbia’s response brought school operations to a grinding halt ahead of graduation. Twice during April, former university president Minouche Shafik summoned the NYPD to clear antiwar protests, including a pro-Palestinian encampment that launched a wave of college protests nationwide.
Tuesday’s demonstration marked the highest-stakes test yet for Columbia’s interim leader, Katrina Armstrong, who took over after Shafik’s resignation last month. In a report released Friday, an internal task force found Jewish students reported being harassed and ostracized last school year, while Armstrong pledged to “make the changes necessary to do better.” Others criticized the university’s heavy-handed response to campus protests and hoped to turn over a new leaf with Armstrong.
“I would say that trust is a really hard thing to rebuild,” said Sobechukwu, a Columbia Law student who declined to give her last name. “And so, I’m hoping that the campus, the administration and students will find a way to rebuild it.”
Protesters carried signs, including one that said: “DIVEST OR YOU’RE NEXT,” with a target in the middle, and of the United Auto Workers, the Columbia student workers union. Others chanted: “Long live Hind’s Hall,” a reference to a campus building occupied by protesters last spring and renamed after a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed by the Israeli military during the war.
“Students, students make us proud. Take another building down,” the picketers chanted. “Say it loud, say it clear. We don’t want no Zionists here.”
Brian Cohen, executive director of the Columbia Hillel, said the sentiment of “Zionists” not being welcome has been “loud and clear” since last fall. He encouraged Columbia to adopt guidance released at New York University last month that prohibited discrimination or harassment against “Zionists,” saying that for many Jews Zionism is integral to their identity.
“With the vast majority of Jews believing in the right for Jewish self-determination, we know what is being implied,” Cohen said. Columbia spokespeople did not comment on whether the university would consider such a policy.
Ahead of the protest, the groups circulated an email template to send to their professors, announcing students would not be in attendance as they participate in a first day of classes strike.
“In solidarity with CUAD’s strike and our peers pushing for divestment, I ask that you excuse any absences from class or provide an opportunity to participate online,” read the email. “I understand the importance of class attendance and am committed to making up any missed work or assignments.”
Inside the university gates, more typical student life appeared to have resumed. After waiting to scan their IDs to gain access, students milled about campus. Some pushed carts with cardboard boxes, while others fist-bumped and sat to catch up outside Low Library, where the rinsed red paint continued to drip down the steps.
Students tossed a football or kicked around a soccer ball on campus lawns that last semester had become the epicenter of antiwar college protests. Each patch of grass was guarded by several guards from Apex Security Group; two others stood watch next to the Alma Mater statue.
“As a freshman, I’m going in with the mindset of having a somewhat normal year,” said a Barnard student who declined to give her name. “It’s mixed feelings. It’s empowering to see how passionate the students at Columbia and Barnard are about what’s going on. But at the same time, it’s also overwhelming.”
“I’m passionate about what’s going on in the Middle East as well, but I’m just here for my education,” she added.
With Tom Tracy
