CLASHES AVERTED AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, AFTER ULTIMATUM TO PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS EXTENDED

Clashes Averted at Columbia University, After Ultimatum to pro-Palestinian Protesters Extended

The university's administration extended the deadline afforded to students, following an extremely tense night in which it appeared to be close to calling authorities to remove the pro-Palestinian protest encampment set up on campus last week

April 24th, 22PM April 24th, 22PM

NEW YORK – For the first time in a week, campus life at Columbia University appeared almost normal on Wednesday morning. There were no protesters lining the sidewalk outside the main campus gate on Broadway praising Hamas or calling for bombs to be dropped on Tel Aviv, while beating their drums. And many of the pro-Palestinian protesters camped out on the lawn across from the library appeared to be still fast asleep in their tents.

The only indication that something dramatic might be amiss were the swarms of reporters milling about the campus with cameras and microphones in hand.

The unusual calm and quiet followed an extremely tense night in which it appeared that the administration was close to calling the police in once again or possibly the National Guard. At about 10 P.M. the university announced that if the protesters did not pack up by midnight, they would face severe consequences.

Hundreds of students lined the walkways surrounding the encampment bracing themselves for violent clashes.

A few hours later, though, the deadline was extended until 8 in the morning. But as that second deadline approached, representatives of the administration and the protesters reported progress in their talks, and the deadline was once again extended – this time for another 48 hours.

Last Thursday more than 100 students were taken into custody after Columbia President Nemat Minouche Shafik summoned New York City police to campus to force them out of their encampment, set up to pressure the university to divest from Israel. But within a matter of days, the tents reappeared on an adjacent lawn.

Students inside the encampment are under orders to refrain from speaking to reporters. Members of the press are also requested not to publish photographs of the encampment showing faces of students.

On a bench across from the encampment sat Daniel Boukhny, a freshman from Orange County, California, who was taking in the scene. "I've been sitting here for the past seven days just observing what's going on," he said.

As a Jewish student, he said he felt "extremely torn."

"I'm obviously for the idea that the Jews should have their own protected land, a country they can call ours and one to go back to," said Boukhny. "On the other hand, seeing what's happening in Palestine at the moment and more directly on campus, I feel like I'm being pulled in two different directions, and I'm not able to commit to either camp because I don't fully agree with either of them."

Between bites of his breakfast bagel and cream cheese, Boukhny added: "Being stuck in the middle is not a good place to be."

Although he said he has never felt unsafe on campus as a Jew, some of the slogans chanted by the pro-Palestinian protesters left him feeling uneasy. "'From the river to the sea' sounds great until you realize that they're talking about a one-state solution, which is something I personally take issue with."

Boukhny said he had reservations about the encampment, but also about the university's response to it. "Do I think the encampment is a totally disproportionate response to the situation? Totally. But then again, Columbia totally over-reacted when they called in the police."

Sitting next to him was his friend Sophie, who is not Jewish. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, lamented this neuro-science major from Nebraska, had taken over her life. "That's my room right over there," she points to a dormitory overlooking the encampment. "I just can't get away from it. It's all I hear. It's all anyone talks about on this campus."

Both students said that atmosphere on campus was so distracting that they were finding it challenging to concentrate on studying for their final exams.

The administration agreed to extend the deadline for dismantling the encampment after student representatives agreed to take down many of the tents, to bar speakers who are not members of the Columbia community, and to take steps "to make the encampment welcome to all." On Friday night, a number of Jewish students, denounced as "Zionists," were pushed out of the space.

Not far from the encampment, on a lawn near Low library, a group of students from the Mailman School of Public Health were celebrating with a picnic brunch on the lawn. They said that they had decided to hold their final class on the main Columbia campus rather than in their classroom, located further uptown, to express their solidarity with the protesting students.

Students wearing kippahs are usually a common sight on the Columbia campus. That was not the case on Wednesday morning, presumably because many religious students were still celebrating Passover with their families.

Columbia announced on Tuesday that students who wish to attend classes online for the rest of the semester have permission to do so. Presumably many Jewish students who felt unsafe because of the anti-Israel protests have exercised that option.

Posted at the entrance to the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" is a long, handwritten list of "community guidelines." They include no drugs or alcohol, no photographing or videotaping other individuals without obtaining their permission, respecting personal boundaries, and recognizing "our role as visitors, and for many of us, colonizers, on this land."

On a stone wall bordering the encampment, pro-Israel activists had hung up the previous day the Israeli and American flags, as well as photographs of all the Israeli hostages.

2024-04-24T19:24:10Z dg43tfdfdgfd