Several national anti-Israel groups have threatened to "seize" universities across the United States to force them to adopt Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions policies on Saturday, raising the specter that encampments and protests like those seen at Columbia University could be replicated across the continent.
"The supposed power of our administrators is nothing compared to the strength of the united students, staff, and faculty committed to realizing justice and upholding Palestinian liberation on campus," National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) wrote on social media. "
In the footsteps of our comrades at Rutgers-New Brunswick SJP, Tufts SJP, and Columbia SJP, we will seize our universities and force the administration to divest for the people of Gaza! Join the Popular University, take back our institutions!"
Student groups call for action
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SJP and the Palestinian Youth Movement published a similar call to action on Friday, telling chapters across the US to be prepared for internal communications for further action. The graphics showed tents with the banner "liberated zone," as appeared in the occupation of campus grounds at Columbia. The graphic was titled "From Columbia to our universities."
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At the same time as SJP made the Saturday call to action, other national pro-Palestinian and left-wing activist groups endorsed the call to action.
Within Our Lifetime, responsible for many of the major protests that have caused major disruptions in New York City, made nearly identical statements to the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and Jewish Voice for Peace in which they said they were "committed to supporting and aiding them in their actions and demonstrations."
Democratic Socialists of America and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, allegedly associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group, joined with graphics that stated "we are all SJP."
Analyst Eitan Fischberger said that there was an alarming level of coordination between the groups, who all posted the messages within minutes of one another.
"This isn't a coincidence," said Fischberger. "Far from just voicing solidarity, these groups are likely also collaborating on strategy, resources, and coordinated action across campuses."
At Yale University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill encampments were set up on Friday, according to Yalies 4 Palestine and SJP UNC SJP. According to the groups' social media, they have continued to occupy campus ground into Saturday. Tufts University SJP set up an "apartheid wall" art installation on Friday, adding to the tents that have stood for several days.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) said that it continued to maintain its encampment at the campus, where coalition members SJP and JVP were suspended. CUAD said that the administration had attempted to stop the student activists from bringing more blankets and tents.
The protest at Columbia
The Columbia protest continued since it started Wednesday despite the arrest of over 100 students and the suspension of several students including the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar on Thursday. CUAD said that over 50 students from Barnard College, which is affiliated with Columbia, had been suspended by Saturday morning.
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik said in a Thursday statement that she had authorized the New York Police Department to clear the encampment from the lawn of the Morningside campus.
"I took this extraordinary step because these are extraordinary circumstances. The individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies. Through direct conversations and in writing, the university provided multiple notices of these violations," said Shafik. "Columbia is committed to academic freedom and to the opportunity for students and faculty to engage in political expression—within established rules and with respect for the safety of all."
The Wednesday encampment and the Saturday call to action came after Shafik testified at a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism on Wednesday.
Shafik was criticized for failing to take disciplinary action against students and professors such as Joseph Massad, who had praised the October 7 Massacre.
Shafik said that he had been spoken to, and in contrast to previous university presidents, confirmed that calling for the genocide of Jews violated the school's code of conduct. She also criticized pro-Palestinian chants such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” but was hesitant to describe the protests as antisemitic.
"Our universities have chosen profit and reputation over the lives of the people of Palestine and the will of their students," SJP and PYM said on social media on Friday. "President Minouche Shafik’s cowardly testimony to Congress heralds an unfortunate shift: university administrators have capitulated to the pressure of the Zionist lobby and allied Right Wing, selling out the Student Movement for Palestinian liberation to save face in the eye of the state."