Dozens Of Columbia Students Arrested During The Palestinian Pro Demo

UNSPLASH/Mohamed Jamil Latrach ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Police arrested dozens of Columbia University students in one of the campus' biggest pro-Palestinian demonstrations since a wave of protests last year against Israel's war in Gaza.

At least 40 to 50 students, in plastic strap handcuffs, were put into a van and a New York Police Department bus outside Butler's library as flight attendants burst into the six-story building to arrest other protesters who refused to leave.

Police arrived on campus in full power at the request of a Columbia official who said student demonstrators occupying the main reading space on the second floor of the library were involved in the seizure.

Videos and photos on social media show protesters, mostly wearing face coverings, standing on tables, beating genderang, and unfurling banners that read "Mogok for Gaza" and "Zona Liberation" under the hanging lights of Lawrence A. Wein's Reading Room.

US President Donald Trump previously criticized Columbia for pro-Palestinian protests on campus last year, saying the protests were antisemitic and showed failure to protect Jewish students.

The students who demonstrated, including several Jewish organizers, denied that Trump and fellow conservative politicians who were very pro-Israeli unfairly mixed up pro-Palestinian protests and antisemitism.

The Columbia watchdog has negotiated with the Trump administration that announced in March about the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of grants for the university for scientific research.

The campus said it had sought to combat antisemitism and other prejudices on its campus while trying to fend off accusations from civil rights groups that it was giving up on government disruptions to academic freedom.

Columbia said on Wednesday night it had asked the opaque for help to secure the building.