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The White House has condemned pro-Palestinian students who occupied a Columbia University building in New York overnight, intensifying the political response to protests that have swept U.S. college campuses.
Protesters marched early Tuesday into the Hamilton Hall building and unfurled a “Free Palestine” flag, escalating the standoff after Columbia authorities sought Monday to end an encampment on campus by threatening to suspend all students who do not disperse.
The university – which has struggled to balance free speech with concerns about anti-Semitism – stepped up its crackdown on campus after the latest occupation, limiting access to resident students and staff providing “essential services “.
“President [Joe] Biden respects the right to free expression, but protests must be peaceful and lawful,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Tuesday. “Seizing buildings by force is not peaceful – it is wrong. And hate speech and symbols have no place in America. »
Colombia has been a hotbed of protests sparked by the war between Hamas and Israel, which began on October 7, but its administration’s decision to suspend the students and call police to arrest them sparked occupations and protests. widespread crackdowns in the United States and other countries. universities abroad.
Police also arrested protesters Tuesday to end the occupation of a California State Polytechnic University building in Humboldt. Arrests have also taken place on other campuses in the United States in recent days.
Students have demanded measures including more transparency in university investments and divestment from companies they believe have profited from Israel’s war in Gaza.
Minouche Shafik, Columbia’s president, said last week that she was open to establishing new processes for engaging with students on transparency and divestment, but had failed to reach an agreement with the demonstrators.
Several different organizations have sued the university for discrimination and failure to protect Jewish and Muslim students, and more recently for disrupting their ability to study and graduate.
Columbia is under pressure from the U.S. Congress to quell the protests, but is also preparing for its graduation ceremony to be held next to the encampment on May 15.
The White House noted that Biden “has stood against disgusting anti-Semitic smears and violent rhetoric his entire life” and added: “He condemns the use of the term ‘Intifada,’ as he has for others tragic and dangerous hate speech displayed in recent days. »
The student tent encampment was still visible Tuesday through the locked gates of the Columbia campus, but only about a dozen protesters and a small number of police and private security guards stood outside the main entrance during the day. One sign read: “Lift the siege of Gaza now.”
The only visible sign of the occupation at Hamilton Hall was a single banner. A truck drove by with an American and Israeli flag painted on the side and the slogan “United We Stand With Israel.”
