Columbia University announced earlier this month that it would be expelling, suspending and revoking the degrees of 22 students who participated in the occupation of Hamilton Hall in support of Palestine last April. Columbia’s University Judicial Board (UJB) carried out hearings for each student punished for months. Several other students have also been placed under investigation by the UJB for sharing posts in support of Palestine or joining unauthorized protests.
“Columbia has been a hub for many student protests. They have done this many, many times, for anti-Vietnam War, anti-apartheid and civil rights protests. At [those] times, students were also arrested,” junior Dua Ahmad said. Ahmad organized the campus pro-Palestine protest on Oct. 7, protesting against the war in Gaza that started exactly a year prior. “So this has been a continuous thing where students have protested against something unjust, yet they suffer repercussions.”
The Ivy League college saw some of the largest demonstrations at U.S. universities last year, motivated by opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza and the financial ties their schools had with Israel. This move came after the Trump administration cut $400 million in federal funding to Columbia on March 7 and sent out letters to Columbia and other universities on March 10, threatening them with potential law enforcement if they don’t “protect Jewish students from anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination.”
The administration has also demanded that Columbia must place its “Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department under an academic receivership for a minimum of five years,” which involves the university ceding control of the department and an outsider chair overseeing how the department runs. Other demands include abolishing the UJB and centralizing disciplinary actions under the president’s office, banning masks designed to “conceal identities and intimidate others,” and formalizing a definition of anti-Semitism for restoration of federal funding.
These demands came before the arrest and detaining of Columbia graduate Mahmoud Kahlil on March 8 by New York’s federal immigration authorities without a warrant, revoking his green card. Kahlil was a Palestinian student negotiator involved in the protests at Columbia who held permanent residence in the US, but he is now being held in a Louisiana detention facility, facing deportation despite no criminal charges. The current Secretary of State, Republican Marco Rubio, ordered his detention, calling on a section of U.S. law that allows for the Secretary of State to order the deportation of non U.S. citizens “whose entry or proposed activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” Kahlil’s arrest has launched protests across the country, opposing the violations of his First and Fifth Amendment rights and calling for his release.
“Mahmoud Khalid, with his background, had an impact where he could change people’s minds, and whenever someone is able to invoke this sense of hope and this sense of just, they’re always crushed,” Ahmad said. “This is the same thing that Trump is trying to do, trying to stop and minimize the voices of those who have influence. They’re trying to invoke fear into people. They’re trying to show that if you protest, your voice is going to be minimized. You are going to be suspended, your future is going to be destroyed. And so they just want to minimize the voices of those who are trying to speak for those who don’t have them.”
In light of crackdowns on pro-Palestine protests on university campuses, Israel broke the cease-fire between it and Hamas on March 18. More than 400 Palestinians were killed due to Israeli strikes, ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This was done in response to Hamas refusing to free half of its hostages to extend a temporary cease-fire, replacing the permanent cease-fire that has been in effect since January. Gazans have been ordered by Israel to move from their homes and head towards the center of Gaza, while Israel has cut off food, medicine, fuel, etc. to its population during the month of Ramadan. Netanyahu has stated that “this is just the beginning” and that “all negotiations will only take place under fire,” to the approval of the White House.
“The news came that Israel talked to Trump and confirmed at the White House, before proceeding to break the cease-fire. Trump has been really vocal about trying to erase Palestinians, and told Joe Biden at the time of his presidency ‘Why don’t you just get the job done?’ So they’re closely working together, and America is the one that is providing leverage for Netanyahu and the Israeli government to continue,” Ahmad said.
Despite the federal government’s crackdowns on student protests and Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza, Ahmad remains optimistic about future pro-Palestine demonstrations.
“It just depends on how strong of a community we can build here,” Ahmad said. “At the end of the day, our state is also more on the liberal side, so a lot of times we’re not as pressured compared to other more Republican states. So it might go either way. It just depends on the unity and the support students can give to each other.”
