Columbia University has fallen into chaos and disorder after President Nemat Minouche Shafik refused to give in to protestors’ demands and clamped down on continuous rallies. Columbia has said that it would not withdraw from its Israeli links.
According to recent reports from the college campus, protesting students have now taken siege to Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall. They have also unfurled a Palestinian flag from the window.
“This time, students and community members occupied Hamilton Hall on many levels, barricading themselves within, bolting and tying the doors, and renamed it Hind’s Hall in honour of Hind Rajab and all of our martyrs. We affirm that we will not succumb to Columbia’s threats and will continue to escalate until divestiture is achieved.
All hell broke loose as University President Nemat Minouche Shafik issued a statement claiming that days of discussions between student organisers and academic officials had failed and requesting that protestors remove encampments.
All hell broke loose as University President Nemat Minouche Shafik issued a statement claiming that days of discussions between student organisers and academic officials had failed and requesting that protestors remove encampments.
The crackdown at Columbia, which has been at the centre of Gaza-related protests on university campuses across the United States in recent weeks, came as police at the University of Texas at Austin arrested dozens of students who were doused with pepper spray during a pro-Palestinian rally.
During Columbia University’s 1968 demonstrations, Hamilton Hall was a focal point and emblem of student action. The building, located in the centre of the Morningside Heights campus, became the subject of fierce protests and occupations by students opposed to the university’s role in the Vietnam War through military research and its encroachment into neighbouring Harlem areas.
The demonstrations, which resulted in the occupation of numerous school buildings, notably Hamilton Hall, were watershed moments in the history of student activism and civil rights movements in the US. The takeover of Hamilton Hall and following discussions between student demonstrators and university authorities drew national attention to problems of academic freedom, racial equality, and universities’ societal responsibility.
