Pro-Palestinian activists who have disrupted university campuses across the country are planning to return for the new semester.
Demonstrators say all forms of protest remain on the table, despite more than 2,000 arrests so far, as students explore new strategies, such as calling for schools to divest from Israel.
“What we see [is] “Students are going to continue their activism and continue doing what they’ve been doing in traditional and unconventional ways, so it’s not just protests and encampments, we’re going to take whatever steps are necessary to encourage Columbia University to divest from Israel,” said Mahmoud Khalil, a student negotiator with the Columbia University Divest Apartheid group.
“And we’ve been planning all summer about what to do next to put pressure on Columbia to listen to its students and make the decision to be on the right side of history,” Khalil added.
Students are set to return to classrooms this month after a chaotic end to the last school year.
Protests against the Gaza war have taken place in dozens of schools across the country, with graduation ceremonies repeatedly disrupted and numerous students suspended for their actions.
Since then, the war in Gaza has only intensified, leaving thousands dead and with no clear end in sight.
“There are certainly conversations happening about how to continue to advocate and raise awareness about Palestinian human rights and the genocide that’s happening in Gaza,” said Zainab Chaudhry, executive director of the Maryland-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“I believe some students have already begun planning over the summer. Student leaders from different campuses have organized several meetings to strategize for the 2024-2025 academic year.”
“If we are to keep up the pressure on university authorities to divest, we need to think strategically about where the limits are and what options students have,” Chowdhury added.
Students are demanding policy changes from the school, including divesting from companies with ties to Israel and making statements in opposition to the country’s actions in Gaza amid the war with Hamas.
But such a statement seems unlikely after several universities, including Harvard, said over the summer they would not take public positions on political issues, and some have tightened rules against camping on campuses.
“I think the challenge for students is how do we raise awareness about different policies, different issues for students, how do we continue to advocate and raise awareness about different issues in light of these policies, and how far are students going to push these policies to continue to advocate about the plight of the Palestinian people and the need to end the ongoing genocide,” Chaudhry said.
Some student activists are still suffering from penalties they received for their activism last year.
“Several students are still suspended and others are waiting for a hearing from the university. The university has not acted on these cases at all, leaving dozens of students in limbo,” Khalil said. “Students don’t know if they will be able to attend school next semester, if they will have access to university accommodation, or if they will be able to register for classes. For some students, it has already been four months.”
But he added that fear of further repercussions will not deter students from their larger plans to keep the Palestinian issue at the forefront on campus.
“We are considering a range of actions throughout the semester, including campouts and protests,” he said.
“But for us, the encampment has become our new base, just like the protests were our base before. Students were protesting every day, but now the encampment is like our new base. I think the university should really think seriously about responding to our demands,” Khalil said, adding that in addition to the encampment, the students are “running a huge political education program to educate and enlighten students about what’s going on in Palestine.”
The Hill has reached out to Columbia University for comment.
Some pro-Palestinian activists have had some success in the past year: Universities including Brown and Northwestern have agreed to some of the protesters’ demands and announced they will hold votes this fall on whether to divest from Israel.
How these schools implement their promises will have a major impact on the protests.
“I think students will continue to be encouraged by these wins and realize what’s possible,” Choudhury said. “Students are a very powerful force on college campuses.”
