A new large-scale anti-Israel tent city descended on Columbia University on Sunday, just days after an NYPD raid cleared another intrusive encampment there and handcuffed more than 100 protesters. Occupied.
At least 30 tents, along with piles of food and supplies, were spread out on the west lawn of Manhattan’s Ivy League school as beleaguered university officials struggled to contain the growing crisis.
The chaos and threats against Jewish students have become so intolerable that a prominent rabbi at a prestigious school urged them Sunday to stay home and university officials told them they could take classes online. .
“We have made our demands and we will continue to make them,” protesters at the encampment defiantly told the Post on Sunday. “We’re here forever. We’re here as long as we’re here.” [it takes till] Colombia meets our needs.
“This has been going on for five days, and today is the fifth day,” rally participants said of recent protests calling for, among other things, the university’s withdrawal from Israel.
“Some of us sleep here, we eat our meals here. Those who are lucky enough not to be suspended go home to get more materials. We have runners. They tell us They give us things and are very supportive,” she said.
“We have a whole community here to help us. It’s a community, it’s a camaraderie.”
As she spoke, some demonstrators sat on sleeping bags, while others stretched out on yoga mats and blue tarpaulins, signed autographs and sipped coffee and munched on fruit and Middle Eastern pastries. I was drinking water and juice.
Speeches on divestment were also made around her, and chants could be heard elsewhere.
Anti-Israel students occupied part of the campus last week, erecting about 60 tents and filling the grounds with Palestinian flags and anti-Semitic slogans.
The tent city developed even after university president Minoush Shafik vowed to crack down on anti-Semitism.
On Thursday, NYPD officers in riot gear moved in and stormed the desolate encampment, killing at least 108 protesters, some of whom had to be taken away. ) and cleared the area of tents and supplies that the students had hidden.
But less than 24 hours later, dozens of students began returning to the grounds near Butler Library, resuming Sunday’s momentum.
Despite social media reports that Columbia University would allow tents to remain there for a week, university officials told the Post on Sunday that students “do not have permission to pitch tents on the lawn.” .
“Those who engage in such conduct violate long-standing university policies and will be identified and subject to disciplinary action,” the representative said.
When asked if students would have the option of virtual instruction, one school official said, “All schools and programs are offering distance learning and, if possible, assessment options for students seeking academic accommodations.” “Guidance” has been issued that states that Due to campus activities for religious reasons or other approved disability accommodation reasons. ”
This campus and other campuses across the country have been hotbeds of anti-Semitic protests since Hamas terrorists carried out a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, and the Jewish state responded with counterattacks. Thousands of people died in the Gaza Strip.
Open displays of support for Hamas on American college campuses have upset some students, particularly Jewish students.
“There is an atmosphere of concern and fear on campus,” a female Columbia University student told the Post on Sunday. “It depends on who you are: racism, surveillance, fear of being seen or photographed. General paranoia. Some exams have been postponed, exam questions have been extended .”
