Israel-Hamas war: Columbia University extends talks with Gaza war protesters

Protesters block traffic during a pro-Palestinian demonstration demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, near the home of Sen. Chuck Schumer in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Columbia University averted another confrontation between students and police, but the situation remained tense with campus officials saying it would continue talks with pro-Palestinian protesters for another 48 hours.

University president Minouche Shafik had set a midnight deadline to reach an agreement on clearing an encampment of protesters on campus but the school extended negotiations, saying it was making “important progress”. Student protesters had committed to dismantling and removing a significant number of tents, the New York Ivy League university said in a statement.

About 60 tents remained at the encampment, which appeared calm, with students going in and out — one girl holding a toothbrush. A woman spoke on a loudspeaker about the reasons for the protest. Security remained tight around campus, with identification required and police setting up metal barricades.

Standoffs also persisted at other universities across the country, including California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, where protesters this week used furniture, tents, chains and zip ties to block a building’s entrance and barricade themselves inside. And new student encampments continued to pop up, including at Brown University in Rhode Island and Harvard University in Massachusetts.

Police first tried to clear the encampment at Columbia last week, when they arrested more than 100 protesters. But the move backfired, acting as an inspiration for other students across the country to set up similar encampments and motivating protesters at Columbia to regroup.

Students protesting Israel’s war with Hamas are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies enabling its monthslong conflict. Dozens have been arrested on charges of trespassing or disorderly conduct. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

The reprieve at Columbia came hours before Republican US House Speaker Mike Johnson planned to visit and meet with Jewish students to address concerns about antisemitism on college campuses.

Columbia said it had agreed with protest representatives that only students would remain at the encampment and they would make it welcoming, banning discriminatory or harassing language.

Elsewhere, at the University of Minnesota, Democratic US Rep. Ilhan Omar attended a protest, hours after nine protesters were arrested on the campus when police took down an encampment in front of the library. Hundreds had rallied in the afternoon to demand their release.

Omar’s daughter was among the demonstrators arrested at Columbia last week.

Protesters block traffic during a pro-Palestinian demonstration demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. Photo / AP

Also, police arrested more than 200 protesters blocking traffic in Brooklyn, near the home of Senator Chuck Schumer, during a non-college demonstration demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. The protest was organised by Jewish Voice for Peace on the second night of Passover.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on US college campuses in a video statement released Wednesday, saying the response of several university presidents has been “shameful” and calling on state, local and federal officials to intervene.

At Cal Poly Humboldt, protesters chanted, “We are not afraid of you!” before officers in riot gear pushed into them at the building’s entrance, video shows. Student Peyton McKinzie said she was walking on campus on Monday when she saw police grab one woman by the hair and another student with their head bandaged for an injury.

“I think a lot of students are in shock about it.”

Three students were arrested, according to a statement from the school, which shut down the campus through Wednesday. Students had occupied a second campus building.

Students at some protests were hiding their identities. At an encampment of about 40 tents at the heart of the University of Michigan’s campus in Ann Arbor, almost every student wore a mask, which was handed to them when they entered.

Student protesters declined to identify themselves to reporters, saying they feared retribution by the university. Organisers of the protest said some students who had participated in prior protests at Michigan had been doxxed and punished. But some students passing by shouted at the protesters to remove their masks and show their faces.

The upwelling of demonstrations has left universities struggling to balance campus safety with free speech rights. Many long tolerated the protests, but are now doling out more heavy-handed discipline, citing safety concerns.

At New York University this week, police said 133 protesters were taken into custody and all had been released with summonses to appear in court on disorderly conduct charges.

More than 40 protesters were arrested Monday at an encampment at Yale University.

Harvard this week limited access to its famous Harvard Yard to those with school identification. Protesters said they set up a camp in the yard with 14 tents and about 30 people Wednesday, after a rally against the university’s suspension of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.

Literature doctoral student Christian Deleon said he understood why the Harvard administration may be trying to avoid protests but said there still has to be a place for students to express what they think.

Protesters project a banner on the Brooklyn Public Library during a pro-Palestinian demonstration demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. Photo / AP

“We should all be able to use these kinds of spaces to protest, to make our voices heard,” he said.

Ben Wizner, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, said college leaders face extremely tough decisions because they have a responsibility to ensure people can express their views, even when others find them offensive, while protecting students from threats and intimidation.