US slams student takeover of Columbia building
The White House has denounced efforts to protest Israel’s assault on Gaza as students at Columbia University occupied a campus building, saying it was “the wrong approach”.
“The president believes that forcibly taking over a building on campus is absolutely the wrong approach. That is not an example of peaceful protests,” White House National Security Adviser John Kirby told reporters at a briefing.
While the president does have sweeping authority to federalise the National Guard, Kirby said such a move was not under consideration in response to the latest developments at Columbia in New York City, where students entered the building, blocked doors and linked arms outside to form a barricade.
President Joe Biden “condemns the use of the term ‘intifada,’ [uprising] as he has the other tragic and dangerous hate speech displayed in recent days,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates added in a statement.
“Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful – it is wrong. And hate speech and hate symbols have no place in America,” Bates said in a statement.
‘Students occupying the building face expulsion’: Columbia administrators
Standoffs between pro-Palestine protesters and Columbia University administrators appear to be coming to a head. The university limited campus access after protesters took over a building early Tuesday. The school promised that those students would face expulsion.
In a statement today, Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang said, “Students occupying the building face expulsion.”
Chang said the university had given protesters a chance to leave peacefully and finish the semester, but that those who didn’t agree to the terms from Monday were being suspended – restricted from all academic and recreational spaces, allowed only to enter their residences, and, for seniors, ineligible to graduate.
“Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation – vandalising property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances – and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday,” he said.
Protesters have insisted they will remain at the hall until the university agrees to three demands: divestment from Israel, financial transparency and amnesty.
Law enforcement action at US universities ‘disproportionate’: UN
The UN has voiced concerns regarding the treatment of pro-Palestine protesters at US universities.
The spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Marta Hurtado, said “We are concerned that some of law enforcement actions across a series of universities appear disproportionate in their inputs.”
Protests have swept through US higher education institutions, with many erecting tent encampments on campus grounds after about 100 protesters were first arrested at Columbia University in NewYork on April 18.
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, police moved in on Tuesday morning to clear one encampment, detaining some protesters.
TV footage showed police at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond on Monday evening pushing and shoving away protesters, with students saying tear gas and pepper spray were deployed.
At the University of Texas at Austin, police also clashed with protesters on Monday, including using pepper spray, and made arrests while dismantling an encampment, adding to hundreds detained nationwide over the weekend.
College Democrats of America hail student protests across US campuses
The College Democrats of America, the Democratic Party’s national organisation presiding over hundreds of campuses across the US, has hailed pro-Palestinian protests that have swept university campuses across the country.
In a statement, it described actions taken by students at several schools as “heroic”, saying they had the “moral clarity to see this war for what it is: destructive, genocidal, and unjust”.
It also criticised the response of school administrations for “arresting, suspending, and evicting students” and decried the Biden administration for taking the “mistaken route of a bear hug strategy” when it came to its Israel policy.
The group also reiterated calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the release of all Israeli captives.
— College Democrats of America (@CollegeDems) April 30, 2024
