Columbia University: Pro-Palestinian protest - police action
New York. Amidst serious tensions with the US government, dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators once again protested at New York's elite Columbia University. Masked with Palestinian scarves, they chanted "Free Palestine" and demanded the release of the arrested Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil in the main library on the Manhattan campus. Scuffles with security personnel and several arrests occurred, according to an eyewitness on site, working for the German Press Agency.
The demonstrators also hung banners inside the library. The hall was initially cordoned off from the outside. Footage showed the protesters trying to force their way out of the library while security forces resisted.
Similar scenes sparked a nationwide debate last year about the Gaza War and anti-Semitism at US universities. Columbia University became the epicenter of hundreds of pro-Palestinian protests across the US. On the New York campus, demonstrators slept in tents and occupied a lecture hall, resulting in numerous arrests.
Since the change of power in Washington, President Donald Trump has been putting pressure on the left-liberal university: His administration is accusing the university's administration of failing to adequately protect Jewish students from harassment and threats on campus – and is only willing to release $400 million in federal funding for the university if far-reaching changes are made. The case of Columbia graduate Khalil, whom the administration accuses of being close to the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, is also causing a stir. Therefore, the administration plans to deport him.
The university has agreed to comprehensively revise its protest policies, security rules, and Middle Eastern Studies department – and is now hoping that the government will be willing to negotiate and that funding will flow again. The White House is using similar pressure on other universities.
RND/dpa
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