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SvennoJ on 29 April 2024
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Protesters and Columbia University administration at standstill

At Columbia University, the standoff between the administration and the demonstrators continues with a few hundred students still in their tents on the main lawn of the campus.

This morning, the university president, Minouche Shafik, released a statement acknowledging that the negotiations between the administration and the student protesters have broken down.

She said very clearly in this announcement that the university will not divest from Israel, which, of course, is one of the biggest demands of the demonstrators here and at other campuses across the United States.

The president said the university did offer to review the student’s recommendations for a more socially responsible investing process and it also offered to donate money to education in Gaza and open up the process of education overseas to more people who can’t afford it.

But again, this key demand of divesting from Israel is something they are not budging on and something the students have said is a red line.

Columbia University urges pro-Palestine protesters to disperse after talks fail

Columbia University’s president says talks with pro-Palestinian protesters who began camping on the Ivy League campus two weeks ago have failed, and she has urged them to voluntarily disperse without saying what would happen if they did not.

Shafik, whose administration was criticised by a campus oversight panel on Friday for its response to the protests, said in a statement that organisers and academic leaders could not reach an agreement that would break a stalemate over the encampment, which the administration says violates university rules.

She said Columbia would not divest assets that support Israel’s military, a key demand of the protesters, but the school has offered to invest in health and education in Gaza and to improve the transparency of Columbia’s direct investment holdings, according to Shafik’s statement.

Protesters have promised to keep their encampment until their three demands are met: Divestment, transparency in Columbia’s finances and amnesty for students and faculty disciplined for their part in the protests.

Shafik has faced an outcry from many students, faculty and outside observers for summoning New York City police to dismantle the encampment, resulting in more than 100 arrests.



Columbia University warns students to leave encampment or risk suspension

As we’ve been reporting, talks between protesters and administrators at Columbia University have stalled after President Shafik said the institution would not divest from Israel, a key demand of the protesters.

According to a letter sent to the protest encampment on campus, Columbia has warned students they must vacate by 2pm (18:00 GMT) and commit to the university’s policies or face suspension.

“The current unauthorised encampment and disruption on Columbia University’s campus is creating an unwelcoming environment for members of our community,” the letter read. It added that an “alternative venue” would be offered to demonstrators after the exam period.

“We regret that we need to take these actions, but we must restore order to the campus so that all students can complete their work for the term, study for exams, and feel welcome in the community,” it added.



Please, we need to keep supporting genocide in peace.

Columbia University students in an assembly to determine next step

Columbia University’s president has issued a statement and she says that she is hoping to resolve this ongoing conflict peacefully. She says that she wants to guarantee free speech but at the same time guarantee the safety of Jewish students at the university.

While Columbia said it won’t divest from Israel, in the statement, she’s also saying they’re open to proposals on what to do with the university’s investments.

We’re hearing that the students who are inside are currently in an assembly. They have been handed out a document that is asking them to leave the university peacefully by 2pm. They say that they have to sign the paper. If they don’t, they won’t be allowed to finish the semester in good standing.

The students believe that this is a form of civil disobedience. There is a long tradition in US universities to carry out this type of protest that dates back to the Vietnam War in the 1960s. They believe that they’re in their right to carry out this type of protest.

Many have told us that they believe that the police could come back to try and remove them from the campus by force.



Apartheid to fossil fuels: Columbia’s history of divestment before Gaza

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/29/apartheid-to-fossil-fuels-columbias-history-of-divestment-before-gaza

As the roar of protests against Israel’s war on Gaza grows louder on campuses across the US, a key demand has taken centre stage: Divestment.

Students and teachers, who are a part of the protests, are insisting their universities stop all funding and investments tied to Israel. At the heart of the protests is New York’s Columbia University, an Ivy League institution steeped in the history of campus student action stretching back decades.

And while no two protests are the same, the university also has a long tradition of leading US educational institutions in ending controversial investments – often under pressure from its student, faculty and alumni communities.

.....

What does it mean for Columbia to divest from Israel? 

The underlying goal for any divestment is to redistribute the university’s endowment funds to focus on investments that are seen as more ethically sound while also using that money to encourage governments and other institutions to change their policies.

Columbia has an endowment fund of $13.6bn. Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of campus groups that is one of the organisers behind the current protests, has identified a series of investors that it wants the university to sever ties with. They include BlackRock, the asset management giant; Airbnb, which has offered rentals in the occupied West Bank; Caterpillar, whose bulldozers Israel has used; and Google, which has faced protests from staffers over Project Nimbus, which provides artificial intelligence services to Israel.

These investments constitute an almost negligible amount of Columbia’s endowment funds, but in February, the university made it clear that it had no intentions of divesting from firms tied to Israel.

 

Protesters defy Columbia University’s deadline

Pro-Palestinian student protesters at Columbia University defied a 2pm (18:00) deadline after they were faced with an ultimatum to either sign a form and leave the encampment or face suspension.

The notice sent on Monday by the university in New York City to protesters in the encampment said that if they left by the deadline and signed a form committing to abide by university policies through June 2025 or an earlier graduation, they could finish the semester in good standing. If not, the letter said, they will be suspended, pending further investigation.

Protesters met the deadline chanting, clapping and drumming from the encampment of more than 300 people. No officials appeared to enter the encampment, with at least 120 tents staying up as the deadline passed.

Colleges around the US had implored a wave of pro-Palestinian student rallies to clear out tent encampments. College classes are wrapping up for the semester, and campuses are preparing for graduation ceremonies, giving schools an extra incentive to clear encampments.