The police arrested a large number of people at a demonstration in favor of Palestine at Yale University on Monday.This happened after Columbia University decided to cancel in-person classes because protesters made tent camps at its New York City campus last week.
Protesters stopped traffic near Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, asking the school to stop investing in companies that make weapons for the military. The police took more than 45 protesters into custody, as reported by Yale Daily News, which is run by students.
“Students at Yale, Columbia, and other universities started protesting because of the fighting between Israel and Palestine. It all started after Hamas attacked from across the border and people were killed. ” Israel reacted strongly in a part of Gaza controlled by Hamas.
Columbia President Nemat Minouche Shafik sent an email to Columbia staff and students on Monday. She said the university was stopping in-person classes and switching to online teaching to calm things down and give everyone time to think about what to do next.
Last week, Shafik asked the police in New York to remove a tent camp that protesters had set up on Columbia’s main lawn. The protesters were demanding the school stop investing in Israel, and some teachers didn’t like this move.
The school said the campsite broke the rules. The police arrested over 100 students from Columbia for trespassing on Thursday. Columbia University and Barnard College have stopped many students from participating in the protests.
Shafik said that people who don’t go to Columbia University have made the tensions there worse by coming to campus and pushing their own ideas. Last week, Shafik spoke to a group of US lawmakers to explain why the school responded the way it did to claims of antisemitism by protesters.
Republicans in the House and Senate, along with one Democratic senator, asked Shafik to step down in letters and statements on Monday.
The New York Police Department has deployed many officers on the busy streets near Columbia University. Both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel groups have been having angry confrontations in this area. The police got reports that Israeli students had their flags taken from them, but there were no reports of any students being physically hurt, according to Tarik Shappard, the top police spokesperson, at a press conference on Monday near the campus.
The students who are protesting have been sleeping outside on the grass for a few nights, and now they have put up tents again. Students at the encampment have arranged prayers for both Muslims and Jews. Some of them have also spoken out against Israel and Zionism and have praised the armed resistance of Palestinians.
Over 100 Columbia teachers joined students on Monday to support them at the outdoor camp. They planned an outdoor meal to celebrate the first day of the Jewish Passover holiday.
‘Bad and unsafe’
US President Joe Biden is being criticized for giving money and weapons to Israel. He said his government is working hard to protect the Jewish community.
Biden said that recently we have seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This open display of hating Jewish people is very wrong and harmful. It should not be allowed on college campuses or anywhere in our country.
The Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, said he was very upset about the antisemitic behavior happening at Columbia University. He mentioned a woman yelling “We are Hamas” and groups of students chanting “We don’t want any Zionists here. ”
Students from the Columbia encampment didn’t like what Biden and Adams said. They said some of them are Jewish and news outlets are only talking about people who don’t speak for them.
“We strongly say no to hate or prejudice and are watchful for anyone who is not a student trying to cause trouble among our Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, Jewish, Black, and pro-Palestinian classmates and colleagues,” they said in a statement.
Lea Salim, a second-year student at Barnard, said that it is obvious that people who are not part of the group do not know what this gathering is for. She mentioned that she and 14 other Jewish students were arrested on the Columbia lawn last week. Salim said it’s okay to criticize Israel without hating Jewish people.
She said the students strongly and angrily condemn the people who have been bothering Jewish students in the public streets near the campus.
The students want the school to stop investing in companies that make money from Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank. They also want the school to be clear about where they invest their money. They also want forgiveness for students and teachers who have been punished for speaking out in support of Palestinian freedom.
The president of Columbia University said in her email to everyone on campus that the protesters need to be willing to make a deal. Shafik wrote that one group should not be able to disrupt important events like graduation to push their own ideas.
Columbia University’s graduation will happen on May 15th.