Conflicts
Pro-Palestine protests in the USA: University building occupied
The demonstrators criticize Israel’s actions in the Gaza war and demand solidarity with the Palestinians. photo
© Jenny Kane/AP/dpa
The situation is getting worse at New York’s elite Columbia University. On Monday, the university announced it would suspend demonstrators. A little later, dozens of people break into a building.
The pro-Palestinian demonstrations at New York’s elite university have been going on for almost two weeks Columbia threatens to escalate. During the night, demonstrators broke into a building, US media reported. It is the Hamilton Hall, which was also occupied in 1968 during a protest against the Vietnam War.
Videos showed masked people wearing black and white Palestinian scarves breaking windows and barricading the entrance to the building with chairs and tables. According to the Columbia Spectator student newspaper, several dozen protesters were in Hamilton Hall. Hundreds more demonstrated in front of the building.
Students face suspension
On Monday, the university announced that it would suspend students if they did not leave a protest camp on the university campus by the afternoon. The demonstrators criticize Israel’s actions in the Gaza war and demand solidarity with the Palestinians. They also demand that their university end financial relationships with Israel. The university rejected this in a statement on Monday.
Almost two weeks ago, an operation by the New York police at Columbia caused a stir and criticism, which resulted in protests and the setting up of tent camps in dozens of universities in the USA. Since then, more than 800 people have been arrested across the country, including university staff, according to the New York Times. Some are accused of anti-Semitism and trivializing the Islamist Hamas, whose goal, among other things, is the destruction of the state of Israel.
On October 7 last year, Hamas killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 as hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israel then responded with a ground offensive and air strikes in the coastal area. Israel’s attacks have killed about 34,500 people since the war began, according to Hamas-controlled health authorities.