Yazen has been sleeping in an open field at Columbia University for more than a week. This 23-year-old American-Palestinian is one of dozens of students who have installed a “Solidarity camp with Loop”, in the midst of strong tensions on several campuses in the country.
“Millions of Palestinians in Gaza sleep rough every night without access to food or shelter,” argued Yazen, who did not want to give his last name.
Since April 15, multicolored tents have been erected on the grounds of the prestigious New York University in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza, where Israel is waging war against the Islamist group Hamas.
The dozens of students and graduates ask the Columbia administration to cut its ties with companies linked to Israel.
Universities have become a center of debate in the United States since the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, which killed 1,170 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel responded with a vast retaliation in the Gaza Strip, where more than 34,000 people have died in six months of war, most of them women and children, according to the Palestinian territory’s Ministry of Health, and a serious humanitarian crisis exists.
Other American campuses have joined the protest movement, including the prestigious Yale University in upstate New York.
In the south of the country, the University of Texas was the scene this Wednesday of a tense confrontation between hundreds of pro-Palestinian students and the police. In addition, dozens of students began to “occupy” the campus of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Given the increase in these demonstrations, the White House assured that President Joe Biden “supports freedom of expression and non-discrimination” in the universities, but clarified that his government rejects these demonstrations “when there is hateful rhetoric, when there is violence.”
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered the pro-Palestinian protests on American campuses “horrendous” and called for action to ensure that “anti-Semitic mobs” be “detained.”
“Show my solidarity”
Yazen was one of the first protesters to set up shop on Columbia Gardens. Although the number of participants fluctuates at different times of the day, sometimes there are several hundred.
The student, despite pressure from the authorities to vacate the protest, is determined to stay. “As a Palestinian, is it my responsibility to be here and show my solidarity with the people of Gaza? Of course”, he claimed.
Last week, tensions rose when the rectorate authorized police to enter the campus and arrest protesters. He also suspended a hundred students.
In a risky exercise in objectivity, Columbia authorities say they want to allow protesters to exercise their freedom of expression while condemning anti-Semitic comments and acts.
Melissa Saidak, a Jewish student, reports that the demonstration brought aggressive and often violent individuals to the campus gates.
“A person yelled at me, scolded me, called me a Zionist and a murderer. “They were hitting a pot or something.”said the student, who wears a badge in solidarity with Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and a Star of David around her neck.
“Making things worse”
The student believes Columbia is not doing enough to protect Jewish students. “The university has continued to make things worse,” she said.
Columbia Chancellor Nemat Shafik had set midnight Tuesday as the deadline to end the protest. Immediately after that announcement, hundreds more people came to the camp, overflowing the sidewalks and other green areas of the campus.
Amid the confusion, protesters rushed to vacate the camp, taking half-dismantled tents and bags of food.
However, university authorities extended the deadline for another 48 hours and agreed not to call the police or the National Guard. The protesters described it as “important victory.”
This Wednesday morning, the camp had resumed its usual programming and, despite the new deadline that is approaching, it does not seem that it will stop.
DP, a 22-year-old student who gave only her initials and handles camp security, is among those who have decided to stay.
“I can’t stand the thought of not being here.”, said. ““I think this only works because everyone is giving it their all.”
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Source: Gestion
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