April 24 (UPI) — Columbia University said on Wednesday that it will extend talks on dismantling an encampment of protesters opposing Israel’s war in Gaza for 48 hours.
The university said in an update that “significant progress” had been made in negotiations with student protesters who it said had agreed to dismantle and remove “a significant number of tents” and ensure that “those not affiliated with Columbia” will leave the encampment and that “only Columbia students will be participating in the protest.”
Columbia added that the student protesters agreed to comply with Fire Department of New York requirements and to take steps to ensure that the encampment is “welcome to all” while prohibiting “discriminatory or harassing language.”
The announcement came after Columbia University President Minouche Shafik said in a Tuesday statement that she hoped negotiations with students would be successful, but added, “if they are not, we will have to consider alternative options for clearing the West Lawn and restoring calm to campus so that students can complete the term and graduate.”
“I fully support the importance of free speech, respect the right to demonstrate, and recognize that many of the protestors have gathered peacefully,” she said. “However, the encampment raises serious safety concerns, disrupts campus life, and has created a tense and at times hostile environment for many members of our community.”
Shafik’s statement did not specify what “alternative options” it would look to employ but student organizers Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine said in a statement after midnight Wednesday that Columbia had threatened to use the National Guard and NYPD to break up the protest camp.
They said they would not return to talks without assurances they would be protected from police and military violence.
They also vowed not to be intimidated by “the University’s disturbing threat of an escalation of violence.”
“Throughout history, we have seen peaceful student protesters violently repressed and attacked by the National Guard: from Black Lives Matter protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, to students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State in Ohio, who were brutally beaten and murdered for peacefully speaking out against war and destruction,” the group said.
The protests are happening in a charged atmosphere of allegations of anti-Semitism on campus as House Republicans held hearings and called on Shafik to ensure students have a safe learning environment. The hearings have demanded universities condemn anti-Semitism on campus.
Student protesters say they are not anti-Semitic, but are instead opposed to the state of Israel’s war policies that have resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza.
Israel invaded Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed approximately 1,200 Israelis.
The university said “there have been acts of vandalism on our campus since the protests began, reports of harassment and discrimination,” and current protest violates university rules.
“The university claims they want to return to ‘business as usual,’ as though the murder of over 30,000 Palestinians — the majority of whom are women and children — and the systematic destruction of every single university in Gaza can be construed as ‘business as usual,'” Columbia Students For Justice in Palestine said in a statement.
