By Cooper Winkler '26
Over the course of the past several weeks, colleges and universities across the country, such as Columbia, NYU, and the University of Southern California, have all been home to pro-Palestinian protests in response to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. These protests began at Columbia University and have since then spread from the East to the West Coast. In some cases, they have turned violent, ultimately resulting in the arrest of students.
Columbia students are primarily calling for their schools to divest from companies who are involved in business with Israel. These businesses include Google, Amazon, and Airbnb. Thus far none of these demands have been met, and Columbia says they will not divest from Israel.
Columbia moved to hybrid classes for the remainder of the year and on May 6th announced that they were canceling their main commencement ceremony and instead holding smaller ceremonies for each of its colleges. Columbia also asked the NYPD to be present on its campus until after the commencement ceremony.
Protests have gone beyond New York and the U.S, spreading to Europe. At the University of Amsterdam on May 7th, the police force arrested approximately 125 students who had set up wooden barricades to fortify their protest on campus. Similarly in Berlin, German police cleared an encampment at the Free University.
What began at Columbia University, has now spread throughout the world. These past few weeks Americans have been holding their breath to see the outcome of these protests. These protests beg the question of what comes next and many wonder if an agreement will be made between the colleges and their students.
Photos Courtesy of The New York Times and NPR
Sources: APNews.com, ColumbiaSpectator.com, TheNewYorkTimes.com, and WDSU.com
Edited by: Kaitlyn Owens '25, Catherine Polatidis '26 and Ms. Brilliant
Fair Use Disclaimer
The images and contents in this article are under Fair Use: Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act in 1976; Allowance is made for "Fair Use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
All rights and credit go directly to its rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Comments