‘Gaza Calls, Columbia Falls’: Campus Protesters Defy Suspension Threats and Occupy Hall

Just after midnight on Tuesday, pro-Palestinian student protesters at Columbia University stormed Hamilton hall— the site of a historic 1968 occupation when students protested the Vietnam war. The campus is now on an even stricter lockdown—with no access for most students and employees. 

Some students entered the building, and barricaded the entry with metal gates, tables and chairs, while others outside chanted “Free Palestine” and “Disclose. Divest. We will not stop, we will not rest.”

Hundreds of students, some linking arms right outside the building’s entrance, cheered as flags and banners, including one that reads “Gaza Calls, Columbia Falls,” were unfurled from windows. Another, read ‘Hind’s Hall’—a tribute to 6-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed during Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

The students inside, estimated by fellow protesters to number a few dozen, have vowed not to leave until all their demands have been met. They reiterated their demands for divestment, as well as amnesty for students facing disciplinary measures. Later into the night, the crowd sang: “we shall not be moved.”

A student organizer requested people to stand closer to the building if they were comfortable with it, saying that the more students who joined, the safer they would all be.

As of Tuesday afternoon, police were not on campus. N.Y.P.D.’s Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said Tuesday morning that the police do not currently have plans to show up. “If there’s an imminent emergency—someone screaming for help, someone needing assistance, being hurt—we will go on the property to address that situation but as far as the protesters—the people who are elevating their voice—we will not go onto that property until we get a specific request from Columbia University,” he said.

Hours after Columbia University’s 2:30 p.m. deadline on Monday for students to leave their encampment on the campus lawn to avoid suspension, hundreds of pro-Palestinian students had remained in the area and the tents stayed up.

Late into the night, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters marched up and down campus, while a smaller group transported more than one dozen tents to a different lawn. Each time a new tent arrived, students cheered loudly. “We’re taking up more space to make it clear to the university that they cannot steamroll us in negotiations,” said Sherif, a graduate student at Columbia University who declined to give his full name citing fear of doxing and repercussions. He says the university threatened during private talks with student leaders that it would call in the national guard but denied the allegations in public.

“We have begun suspending students,” Ben Chang, a spokesperson for Columbia University, said around 5 p.m. Earlier in the day, University President Minouche Shafik said in a statement that they were not able to come to an agreement with student protesters despite “robust and thoughtful offers.” She also said Columbia “will not divest from Israel,” which is what the student activists have been calling for.

Shafik’s decision earlier this month to invite cops on to campus and arrest student protesters gained nationwide attention, and similar encampments have since cropped up at dozens of colleges across the country. Hundreds of students have faced arrests and suspensions—sparking criticism that administrators and law enforcement are criminalizing peaceful protest. UN rights chief Volker Türk expressed concern Tuesday about “disproportionate law enforcement actions across universities.” The College Democrats of America, the student wing of the Democratic Party, said in a statement Tuesday, that they supported students’ divestment demands and stressed the importance of student safety and right to peacefully protest.

The White House condemned the occupation of Hamilton Hall. Deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement Tuesday that “President Biden respects the right to free expression, but protests must be peaceful and lawful…Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful—it is wrong.” Asked about the use of police force at some campus protests on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that “Americans have the right to peacefully protest within the law,” while adding that “antisemitism is very dangerous.”

There were only a few counter protesters on campus Monday during the day; two men waved giant Israeli flags outside the Butler Library. Pro-Palestinian students did not appear to be engaging with them.

Some Jewish students are a part of the encampment. Others say they feel unsafe. Columbia University has said that it does “not want to deprive thousands of students and their families and friends of a graduation celebration” and that it must “take into account the rights of all members of our community.” 

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At a press conference Monday, students remained undeterred by the president’s disciplinary warnings. “We will not be moved by these intimidation tactics… We demand divestment. We will not be moved unless by force,” said Sueda Polat, a student organizer. She said the administration engaged in good faith until it threatened suspension: “Where we asked for amnesty, they gave us more discipline.”

Student protesters are asking their universities not to invest funds from their endowments in companies linked to Israel. “The university is supposed to be an educational institution, not an equity fund,” says Jamil Mohamad, a 32-year-old Columbia University graduate student and Palestinian American standing outside the encampment, on campus grounds. “The student movement is calling for disclosure and financial transparency to understand exactly where the university endowment is being invested and to understand where their tuition dollars are going,” he says.

On Monday afternoon, hundreds of students rallied on campus grounds in the early afternoon with megaphones. Later on, it appeared calmer. Students drank bubble tea, walked dogs and read novels, while dozens of faculty in bright orange vests stood by. Police flanked the gates where more pro-Palestinian protesters chanted slogans.

Mohamad arrived on campus as soon as he learned that the university would discipline protesters who are part of the encampment. He has not spent the night but has often dropped by during the day and enjoyed dance performances, lectures and film screenings. Asked whether he fears punishment, he reframes the conversation: “Whatever sacrifices I may make as a student protester pales in comparison to what’s happening to civilians in Gaza right now who are facing famine, who are facing indiscriminate killing.” Mohamad does not have relatives in Gaza but says he does have some living in the West Bank, where Israeli settlers have ramped up violence since Oct. 7.

Other protesters are similarly emboldened in their stance by the threat of suspension or arrest. Zee, a 24-year-old graduate student at Columbia University, says she doesn’t regret her choice to join the protests despite the risks. “They all pale in comparison to losing my life,” she says. “I’m very fortunate that as an American living and going to school in the U.S., I don’t have the immediate threat of genocide like the Palestinians do.”

Darializa Avila Chevalier, an Afro-Latina alumnus of Columbia University’s class of 2016 and former member of Students for Justice in Palestine, showed up on Monday afternoon, too. 

Avila Chevalier points out that Columbia University has previously given in to similar divestment demands from protesters during South African apartheid and as recently as 2015, when it divested from private prisons. “The students have a demand that is not only reasonable and concrete but it’s also a demand that the university has heeded before,” she says. “It’s not unprecedented at all.” 

Asked about some politicians’ and administrators’ characterization of encampments as threats to Jewish safety, Avila Chevalier stresses that many organizers are Jewish. “What I do think it’s a threat to is these institutions and the violence that they inflict on everyday people here and abroad. That’s what terrifies our establishment politicians.”