Columbia vows more talks with pro-palestinian student protests
NEW YORK: After a tense overnight standoff, Columbia University officials and students appeared to agree to further talks on Wednesday on clearing a propalestinian protester encampment that has paralysed the New York campus.
The prestigious institution is at the core of demonstrations spreading to campuses around the United States over the Israel-hamas war and ensuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
University administrators told student newspaper the Columbia Spectator that negotiations to dismantle the encampment would continue for another 48 hours following progress in talks.
The Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) group had threatened to refuse to participate “until there is a written commitment that the administration will not be unleashing the (New York Police Department) NYPD or the National Guard on its students.”
It was not immediately clear if university officials had agreed to such terms, though New York Governor Kathy Hochul has said she had no plans to call in the National Guard.
University president Minouche Shafik set a deadline of midnight Tuesday to resolve the campus unrest, and some students began to remove their tents ahead of the cutoff period. But after the deadline passed without an agreement, many students began re-establishing their presence on the university’s South Lawn, the epicentre of the demonstrations, the Spectator said.
Students occupying the propalestinian encampment, which was erected last week, have hosted speakers, music performances, Islamic prayers and seder meals for the Jewish holiday of Passover, which began on Monday.
Tensions reached their peak on Thursday, when more than 100 people were arrested after Shafik called in the police.
Given the uneasy mood and disruption to university campus life, some classes are being held online for the rest of the semester, which ends on April 29.
Pro-israel supporters, and others worried about campus safety, have pointed to anti-semitic incidents and argued that campuses are encouraging intimidation and hate speech.
Protesters — including a number of Jewish students — say they’ve disavowed instances of anti-semitism and are there to support Palestinians. Students have also launched protests at several other schools, including New York University, Yale, MIT, UC Berkeley, the University of Michigan and elsewhere.