Live updates: Elected officials, Jewish leaders respond to Columbia protests
A counter protestor talks into a microphone as people gather outside of Columbia University to demand a ceasefire and the end of Israeli attacks on Gaza, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, during a protest in New York, US, April 20, 2024.(photo credit: Reuters/Adam Gray)
Encampment begins at MIT, to chant of "Palestine is Arab!"
Chairman of House Education Committee to Columbia president: We will hold you accountable
"If you do not rectify this danger, then the Committee will not hesitate in holding you accountable," the congresswoman wrote.
ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF US Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on gun violence on Capitol Hill in Washington, US June 8, 2022.(photo credit: ANDREW HARNIK/POOL VIA REUTERS)Go to the full article > >
Simon Weisenthal Center calls on Columbia to allow police on campus
Biden issues Passover statement condemning "calls for violence against Jews" on campuses
"This Passover falls particularly hard on hostage families trying to honor the spirit of the holiday – a story centered on freedom – while their loved ones remain in captivity," the statement said.
Columbia University has been roiled by protests all week, since students set up an encampment on a campus lawn the night before University President Minouche Shafik was set to testify before the House of Representatives.
Shafik authorized the New York Police Department (NYPD) to dismantle the encampment on April 18, and over a hundred students were arrested for trespassing. The encampment quickly reconstituted itself, and has seen a crowd of more than a hundred protesters gathered outside on a daily basis in support.
The protests, both on and off campus, have included regular expressions of support for Hamas and other terrorist groups, amid regular calls for "intifada" and the fall of Israel.
Amid concern for Jewish students at the school, one campus rabbi directed Jewish students not to return to campus after the Passover holiday out of concern that their safety could not be guaranteed.
