Columbia University: Ilhan Omar's daughter suspended and 108 arrested for Gaza protest
More than 100 students have been arrested after police cleared a camp of pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University in New York.
The university's president said that the "extraordinary step" came after multiple warnings and was necessary to provide a safe environment.
Among the participants in the protest was Minnesota politician Ilhan Omar's daughter, who has been suspended.
Protests have rocked US campuses since the Israel-Gaza war began last year.
Demonstrators constructed an encampment of about 50 tents on campus on Wednesday - and overnight hundreds of students and others rallied with them.
More than 100 had occupied the lawns for over 30 hours, in violation of university rules, New York Mayor Eric Adams told a news conference on Thursday.
The demonstrators were joined by independent presidential candidate Cornel West.
In a statement sent to faculty earlier on Thursday, Columbia University president Dr Nemat Shafik said she had hoped her decision to authorise the New York Police Department to clear the encampment would "never be necessary".
"The individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies," Dr Shafik said. "Through direct conversations and in writing, the university provided multiple notices of these violations."
Dr Shafik said she regretted that "all of these attempts to resolve the situation were rejected by the students involved".
In total, 108 people were arrested at the protest site. Two received trespass summonses and charges of obstruction of government property.
Police had intervened in protests around the university on Wednesday, as Dr Shafik testified about antisemitism before Congress.
The Columbia Spectator, a student newspaper, reported that the swoop by officers marked the first time mass arrests had been made on campus since Vietnam War protests in 1968.
On X, formerly Twitter, Ilhan Omar's daughter, Isra Hirsi, 21, said she had been suspended from Barnard College for "standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide" despite never having been reprimanded or disciplined in the three years she has been a student at the private women's university.
Her mother is among the most vocal critics of Israel on Capitol Hill. In 2019 the congresswoman apologised after tweeting that US support for Israel was "all about the Benjamins baby", a slang term for $100 bills, a post that drew accusations of antisemitism.
One of the organisations that organised the protest, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, said that the suspension of Ms Hirsi and the two other students - identified as Maryam Iqbal and Soph Dinu - meant that "they have lost access to their food, housing, and medical centre".
"Two of the three live in student housing and have been illegally locked out with no notice," the statement added, noting that the suspension was effective immediately.
Barnard University told the BBC that it does "not provide information about confidential student conduct proceedings".
'Subject to sanctions'
A separate Barnard community update sent out on Thursday said only that staff members had asked students to leave and warned them they would be "subject to sanctions" if they failed to do so.
Written warnings were also provided on Wednesday evening, warning of interim suspensions if they did not leave the encampment later the same night.
"This morning... we started to place identified Barnard students remaining in the encampment on interim suspension, and we will continue to do so," the statement added.
Barnard's Student Government Association said in a statement that the suspensions were "illegitimate" and a violation of "the sanctity of the academic institution and its purpose to facilitate open dialogue".
At least one professor - classics lecturer Joseph Howley - has publicly expressed support for the protest.
He told the Spectator: "I wish the last few months had left me with greater confidence that the University's response today was about how the students were protesting rather than what they were protesting."
The protest at Columbia came just days after pro-Palestinian protesters blocked major roads across the country, restricting access to airports including Chicago's O'Hare International and Seattle-Tacoma International, as well as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
Democratic politician Ilhan Omar's daughter is suspended from college for participating.
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Columbia University cancels all in-person classes as protests dominate campus and after school rabbi issued shocking warning to Jewish students
Columbia University has canceled all in-person classes amid escalating anti-Israel protests that have sparked fear in Jewish students - and a warning from a rabbi.
President Minouche Shafik on Monday said she was 'saddened' by the situation and that the school 'needed a reset'.
The Egyptian-born academic added that tensions have been 'exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia', warning they are pursuing their own agenda.
It comes after the school's rabbi warned Jewish students not to return to campus amid a horrifying spike in 'extreme anti-Semitism.'
Last week the NYPD removed an encampment at the college on Thursday and arrested more than 100 demonstrators, including the daughter of Ilhan Omar.
Shafik added: 'I understand that many are experiencing deep moral distress and want Columbia to help alleviate this by taking action.
'We should be having serious conversations about how Columbia can contribute.'
Democratic Mayor Eric Adams previously said the city was asked in writing by university officials to remove the encampment.
'Students have a right to free speech, but do not have a right to violate university policies and disrupt learning on campus,' Adams said on Sunday night.
'I am horrified and disgusted with the antisemitism being spewed at and around the Columbia University campus.
'Hate has no place in our city, and I have instructed the NYPD to investigate any violation of law they receive a report about and will arrest anyone found to be breaking the law,' Adams said on Sunday night.
'I do, however, want to be abundantly clear: Columbia University is a private institution on private property, which means the NYPD cannot have a presence on campus unless specifically requested by senior university officials.
'For the safety of all New Yorkers, I urge Columbia's senior administration officials to improve and maintain an open line of communication with the NYPD to ensure the safety of all students and staff on campus.
'The NYPD has an increased presence of officers situated around the campus to protect students and all New Yorkers on public streets, and they stand ready to respond if a request is made by the university, like was done this past Thursday.'
The students had been protesting on campus since early Wednesday, opposing Israeli military action in Gaza and demanding the school divest from companies they claim 'profit from Israeli apartheid.'
Columbia's president Nemat Shafik issued a statement saying the school had warned protesters on Wednesday that they would be suspended if the encampment was not removed. School officials made the decision Thursday to call in police and clear out the demonstrators, she said.
'The individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies,' she wrote.
Shafik also said the university tried through several channels 'to engage with their concerns and offered to continue discussions if they agreed to disperse.'
The school said it was still identifying students involved in the protest Thursday and added more suspensions would be forthcoming.
Police moved in early Thursday afternoon, using zip ties to arrest protesters and escort them to waiting buses before removing the tents.
Commissioner Edward Caban said the arrests were peaceful and the protesters were cooperative.
Pro-Palestinian protesters reorganized on campus a short time later, chanting, 'Shame.'
'We demand full amnesty for all students disciplined for their involvement in the encampment or the movement for Palestinian liberation,' the protest coalition said in a statement.
On Sunday Rabbi Elie Buechler of the Columbia/Barnard Hillel issued a warning to students on Sunday morning in a statement provided to DailyMail.com.
'What we are witnessing in and around campus is terrible and tragic,' Buechler wrote a day before Passover, one of the main Jewish holidays.
'The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made it clear that Columbia University's Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students' safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy.'
Following her arrest, Rep. Omar's daughter Isra Hirsi, 21, claimed she has nowhere to live or eat after being suspended from the school.
'I was a little bit frantic, like, where am I going to sleep? Where am I gonna go? And also all of my s**t is thrown in a random lot. It's pretty horrible,' she told Teen Vogue.
'I don't know when I can go home, and I don't know if I ever will be able to.'
She said the administration at Bernard College has hung her out to dry when it comes to being able to get food.
'I sent them an email like, "Hey, I rely on campus for my meals, I rely on my dining plan," and they were like, Oh, you can come pick up a prepackaged bag of food, a full 48 hours after I was suspended,' she said.
'There was no food support, no nothing.'
A large group of demonstrators met outside the university gates on Saturday while student protestors returned to the main lawn, waving flags and chanting.
Buechler's statement came days after video surfaced showing a woman screaming 'We are Hamas!' while a man wearing a yarmulke and a Israeli flag on his back walked past.
As another man filmed the protestor and shoved his phone in her face, she repeated, 'Yes, we are all Hamas, b****!'
'It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved,' Buechler wrote.
'It is not our job as Jews to ensure our own safety on campus. No one should have to endure this level of hatred, let alone at school.'
The rabbi encouraged the students to reach out to him for help and ended the message: 'May we see better days on campus soon.'
Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, issued his own statement on behalf of Buechler and Columbia's Jewish students.
'The anarchy inside and outside Columbia's campus is disturbing, disorienting, and frightening for all of us to witness, but it has been downright dangerous for the Jewish students experiencing it,' read the statement provided to DailyMail
'The fact that Jewish students must seek refuge from their university campus is shameful evidence of the failure of the university and every level of government to effectively address the growing horror of domestic antisemitism.'
Protests have exploded across the university's campus over the past few months as war continues to brew in the Middle East.
However, they have only intensified amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict that has seen over 30,000 Palestinian civilians killed.
In a testimony before Congress, President Shafik defended the students' actions and insisted she had been working to combat antisemitism.
Shafik asserted that the 'vast majority' of protests on campus have been 'peaceful' and said the college is focused on upholding free speech, but 'cannot and shouldn't tolerate abuses this pledge to harass and discriminate.'
She noted holding daily meetings with the campus security team and working closely with the NYPD and FBI in instances where hate crimes are reported.
Also on Sunday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates issued a statement.
'While every American has the right to peaceful protect, calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly Antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous – they have absolutely no place on any college campus, or anywhere in the United States of America,' he said.
'And echoing the rhetoric of terrorist organizations, especially in the wake of the worst massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, is despicable. We condemn these statements in the strongest terms.'
Demonstrators gathered at The New School, a private university in New York City, on Sunday to stand in solidarity with other students.
Video posted to social media shows a small group sitting cross-legged inside a campus building, clapping and chanting, 'No tuition for genocide!'
The protestors have assembled tents bearing messages including 'Liberated zone' and 'Free Palestine.'
Similar demonstrations have erupted at Harvard University and Boston University in Massachusetts.
It comes after New York City police removed a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at the Ivy League school on Thursday.
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