Columbia University students stage Vietnam-style anti-war encampment for Gaza

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Columbia University students stage Vietnam-style anti-war encampment for Gaza The latest student-led action is aimed at forcing administrators to divest from companies and institutions they deem to be profiteering from Israel's war and occupation
Azad EssaWed, 04/17/2024 - 15:55
The Gaza solidarity encampment at the heart of Columbia University's campus, on 17 April 2024 (MEE/Instagram)
Hundreds of Columbia students have staged a Vietnam-style encampment inside the main campus of the university in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in defiance of what they say is repression of pro-Palestinian protests at the Ivy League school in New York City.

The action on Wednesday morning organised by several groups including* Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace, began hours before Columbia University President Minouche Shafik’s testimony was expected before the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

The Gaza solidarity encampment is the latest student-led action at Columbia to force administrators to divest from companies and institutions they deem to be profiteering from Israel's "apartheid, genocide and occupation" in Palestine.

"Columbia University has a rich legacy of student activism, from anti-Vietnam War protests in 1968 to being the first Ivy League school to divest from Apartheid South Africa in 1985," the students said in a statement sent to Middle East Eye.

"As students at this institution, it is our responsibility to stand against our inherent complicity in genocide and ethnic cleansing from Palestine to Harlem.*




"We refuse to accept a world where the death of over 30,000 Palestinians is normal, acceptable, or profitable. We are in total solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement, who resiliently resist decades of occupation, apartheid, and genocide. We remain steadfast in our commitment to see a free Palestine within our lifetime," the students added.

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Since 7 October when the Israel-Palestine war broke out, university students across the United States have been at the forefront of calling for both a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the complicity of their universities in Israel's war on Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian students have accused universities of attempting to censor or stifle support for Palestine on their campuses.

Alumni of schools like New York University (NYU) have pledged to hold back their donations until the university stops infringing on the rights of students and faculty to speak their minds on campuses.

The schools have also come under pressure from wealthy donors who have accused the schools of failing to crack down on antisemitism on the campuses.*

This is a developing story.


Israel's war on Gaza




Harlem, New York City


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