Police arrest dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University

Special units of the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrived at the Columbia University campus in New York and detained pro-Palestinian students who were protesting in the historic Hamilton Hall. At Columbia University’s Morningside Heights Campus, the Gaza Solidarity Camp, which students had set up a while ago, was dispersed by police units. With the help of large trucks and specially prepared ramps, the police arrived at Hamilton Hall, where the protesting students had recently entered, and were protested by the public gathered on the Amsterdam Avenue side of the building. The police entered Hamilton Hall through a window and broke down the barricades inside the building, and took dozens of students out of the campus and detained them. New York police also removed the Gaza Solidarity Camp tents on campus. Shortly before the police intervention, Columbia University issued a statement asking for NYPD assistance to restore order and safety to the community. - Protests in support of Palestine at US universities In mid-April, pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University staged a sit-in on the campus lawn to protest the school’s continued financial investments in companies that support Israel’s attacks and occupation of Gaza. On the second day of the protests, the Chancellor’s Office asked the New York police for help in dispersing the demonstrators, and police entered the campus and detained 108 students. The incident at Columbia University brought back to the agenda the “freedom of expression“ restrictions against Palestinian students at US universities that began after October 7, 2023, and student protests against the arrests spread to other universities across the country. Student protests in support of Palestine are still ongoing at more than 50 major universities across the US, and police have reportedly detained more than 1,000 students, including some faculty members, in the last two weeks.