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Forums - Politics Discussion - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

Prominent professor faces repeated Israeli interrogations over Gaza war comments

Lawyers have said that Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian – a Palestinian citizen of Israel who is a professor of law and an expert on trauma, state crimes and criminology, surveillance and genocide studies – has been summoned for a third interrogation by Israeli police tomorrow.

Shalhoub-Kevorkian was arrested on suspicion of incitement for criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza on April 18. She was detained overnight and released under certain conditions. Following her release, she was summoned for three police interrogations: on April 25, April 28, and now, May 2.

Hadeel Abu-Salih, a lawyer for Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s legal team advised her not to answer questions on political topics or any questions that exceed the scope approved by the state attorney’s office for this interrogation.

The lawyers further noted that if she is summoned for another interrogation, they would consider legal action to stop Israel’s police from politically persecuting her.

“During the previous interrogations, the police asked Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian illegal questions, which amount to political persecution and violate academic freedom. These police actions amount to an abuse of the criminal process for the purpose of intimidation,” Adalah said in a statement.

During the two, four-hour interrogations, the police asked Shalhoub-Kevorkian about the sources she used when referring to the number of children killed in Gaza since the start of the war, as well as if she still believes that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

1,000 Gaza workers in Israel ‘remain missing’: Palestinian rights groups

Palestinian human rights organisations have said that there is no information available about 1,000 workers from the Gaza Strip who were working in Israel on October 7.

The Commission for Detainee’s Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, and the Addameer Foundation for Prisoner Care and Human Rights said in a joint statement that the number of Palestinian workers from Gaza who were in Israel before October 7 was approximately 10,300.

They added that “3,200 [workers] of them were released at the Kerem Shalom [Karem Abu Salem] crossing at the beginning of November 2023 from the detention centres where they were being held, some still wearing zip ties on their wrists bearing numbers.

“Approximately 6,441 workers were deported to the West Bank, and approximately 1,000 workers remain missing in light of the ongoing crime of forced disappearance against Gaza detainees.”

The organisations said that Israel has so far refused to disclose their whereabouts or information about their well-being, only saying that there are two military camps for Gaza detainees – one near Be’er Sheva, and another near Jerusalem.

Haniyeh’s sister moved to house arrest after being charged with incitement

An Israeli court has ordered the release of the sister of Hamas’s top leader to house arrest after she was indicted for incitement and identification with a “terror group”, Israeli media report.

Sabah Haniyeh, 57, the sister of Ismail Haniyeh, was born in Gaza but has Israeli citizenship and lives in southern Israel. She was arrested in early April, indicted on April 21 and released to house arrest today.

According to the indictment, she sent several messages praising Hamas’s October 7 attacks to WhatsApp groups that seem to include members of the extended Haniyeh family.

Ismail Haniyeh lives in exile in Qatar.



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Gaza filled with more debris and rubble than Ukraine: UN

The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) says that the mammoth task of clearing Gaza’s debris is made all the more costly and dangerous by the sheer amount of asbestos and unexploded ordnance.

Nearly seven months into the war, UNMAS estimates the amount of debris in the Gaza Strip at 37 million tonnes in mid-April, or 300 kilogrammes per square metre (60 pounds per square foot).

“Gaza has more rubble than Ukraine, and to put that in perspective, the Ukrainian front line is 600 miles [nearly 1,000km] long, and Gaza is 25 miles [40km] long,” said Mungo Birch, head of the UNMAS programme in the Palestinian territories.

But the volume of rubble is not the only problem, UNMAS said.

“This rubble is likely heavily contaminated with UXO [unexploded ordnance], but its clearance will be further complicated by other hazards in the rubble,” Birch told journalists in Geneva.

“There’s estimated to be over 800,000 tonnes of asbestos, for instance, alone in the Gaza rubble.” The cancer-causing mineral used in construction requires special precautions when handling.

It is generally estimated that 10 to 15 percent of the munitions fired do not explode on impact and therefore represent a lasting danger for civilian populations.

‘It would take 100 trucks 14 years to clear the rubble so far’ in Gaza

Birch, head of the UNMAS programme in the Palestinian territory, has said he hoped the UN agency, which works to mitigate the threats posed by all types of explosive ordnance, would become the coordinating body for mine action in Gaza.

It has secured five million dollars of funding, but needs a further $40m to continue its work in Gaza over the next 12 months, he said. However, “the sector as a whole will need hundreds of millions of US dollars over multiple years in order to make Gaza safe again for the population,” Birch added.

“Because the level of rubble is so unprecedented, it’s going to take new thinking on how we proceed with the clearance,” said Birch.



Israel ‘militarising civilian objects’ including schools in Gaza: rights monitor

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor says in its latest report that the Israeli military has “militarised civilian objects, including schools and educational facilities” in the Gaza Strip.

The Geneva-based group says these facilities are being used as military bases “in flagrant violation of international law and the rules of war”.

The monitor cited the Salah al-Din Preparatory School in Gaza City in the central part of the enclave as an example, which it said was used a detention and interrogation centre for hundreds of local Palestinians in February.

With Israel every accusation is an admission. Accuse Hamas of using schools, it's the IDF that is using schools.



163 aid trucks entered Gaza per day on average in April: Government

The Government Media Office in Gaza says there has been a “limited increase” in the number of aid trucks entering the enclave each day in April but the number is still far below the besieged population’s needs.

It said in a statement that 4,887 aid trucks entered Gaza in April, including 1,166 via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, with the rest moving through the Kerem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing with Israel.

The office said only 419 trucks, or 8 percent, made it to northern Gaza, where the needs are most acute and where about 700,000 Palestinians require urgent help. This means an average of 163 trucks per day made it into Gaza, the statement said, which is nowhere near the 1,000 trucks per day needed and far below the 300 to 400 that Israel and the US have been talking about.

“The occupation is still maintaining approximately the same pace and is seeking to convince the world that the reality of introducing aid has changed,” the media office said.

It looks like the Kerem Shalom crossing is blocked again, Zionist protesters likely.






Or it's closed because Blinken is touring there.... (Karem Abu Salem is the Hebrew name for Kerem Shalom)

Blinken tours Karem Abu Salem crossing in Israel

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited an aid inspection point, where aid trucks bound for Gaza are being held by Israel, a process that aid groups have called a major bottleneck.

Sacks of canned chickpeas, rice, potatoes and toilet paper, some marked with the logo of the UN’s World Food Programme or the World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid group sat on pallets waiting to enter Gaza. Soldiers carrying automatic weapons roamed around the area known as an “inspection cell”.

Israel has sought to demonstrate it is not blocking aid to Gaza, especially since President Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Netanyahu, saying Washington’s policy could shift if Israel fails to take steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.

That move came after seven WCK aid workers were killed by an Israeli attack, increasing anger over the dire conditions for Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel claims the bottleneck of aid deliveries was inside Gaza, not on its side. Aid groups say otherwise.


Blinken says progress on aid to Gaza is real but needs to be accelerated

The US secretary of state says that progress on improving humanitarian access to Gaza is real but, given the immense need in the Palestinian enclave, it needs to be accelerated.

Here are some other comments he made to reporters during his visit to Israel:

  • Israel has made important compromises over a proposal for a deal that would see hostages released in exchange for a ceasefire, but it is up to Hamas to take that deal.
  • The aid pier off the coast of Gaza will be operational in one week.
  • The Beit Hanoon crossing in northern Gaza – known as the Erez crossing to Israelis – has been opened for the first time since the outbreak of the war to allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip.
  • American flour arrived at the port of Ashdod in preparation for entering Gaza, and the quantity is enough for 2.5 million Palestinians for six months.
  • The United States is working to ensure that the distribution of aid inside Gaza is effective and not obstructed by Hamas.
  • Israel must present a clear humanitarian plan if it wants to proceed with its plan on Rafah; we have not been informed of a plan by Israel on Rafah yet.


More words including lies and empty promises. Get that flour into Gaza asap. And of course water, fuel, salt, oil and ovens to turn it into bread etc. Can't eat raw flour..



Promise was to immediately open it after the outrage over the WCK murders April 1st, took a month... But finally

Beit Hanoon (Erez) crossing reopens for first time since start of war

For the first time since October 7, an aid convoy consisting of 31 trucks has entered northern Gaza through the border crossing into Beit Hanoon, which is called the “Erez” crossing in Israel.

This is the main route for foot traffic that was damaged in the October 7 attack by Hamas. Israeli authorities said they were going to open it last month to allow aid in. This is in the northern part of the Gaza Strip; that’s the area where people are most in need, particularly with warnings of famine coming from that northern section.

It’s been opened today; no coincidence that’s in line with [US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken’s visit because the Americans have been pushing for more aid to get in.

Jordanian public service media outlet Al-Mamlaka TV reports that a Jordanian aid convoy consisting of 31 trucks entered Gaza via the Beit Hanoon crossing, known as the Erez crossing to Israelis.


The Times of Israel quoted army Colonel Moshe Tetro, head of Israel’s Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza, who said he hopes the crossing will be open every day and will help reach a target of 500 aid trucks entering Gaza daily.


Israel says Beit Hanoon crossing enabling ‘substantial aid’ to Gaza

The Israeli military has released footage of the Jordanian trucks that we reported earlier had been allowed into northern Gaza after the Beit Hanoon crossing – known to Israelis as the Erez crossing – was reopened for the first time since October 7.

The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is in charge of organising aid, said Beit Hanoon underwent construction to turn it from a civilian crossing into an aid crossing.

“The forces constructed inspection and protection infrastructure in the area and paved roads in both Israeli and Gazan territory, enabling the entry of substantial amounts of aid to the northern part of the Gaza Strip,” it said.

The Government Media Office in Gaza said earlier that there has only been an uptick in humanitarian aid going into the enclave, still far below Palestinians’ needs, especially in northern Gaza.



Let's hope it gets more than the 31 (compromised) trucks conveniently entering while Blinken is there.

Israeli settler attack on aid convoys ‘warrants global condemnation’: Jordan FM

The Jordanian foreign minister says the “despicable attack by radical Israeli settlers” on two Jordanian convoys taking desperately needed humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza “warrants global condemnation”.

“Protecting the convoys is a legal obligation of Israel as the occupying power,” Ayman Safadi wrote in a post on X after the Jordanian foreign ministry officially condemned the attacks.

Safadi said one of the attacked trucks was the first to enter Gaza through the Beit Hanoon (Erez) crossing, which has just been reopened.





Guterres: UN committed to peace ‘based on end to occupation’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reaffirmed the organisation’s “hope” for a two-state solution, calling it the only long-lasting path to peace for both Israelis and Palestinians along with the whole region.

“The UN is totally committed to supporting a pathway to peace, based on an end to the occupation and the establishment of a fully independent, democratic, viable, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State, with Gaza as an integral part,” he said in a statement.



‘Time to recognise State of Palestine is now’: UN ambassador

Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s ambassador to the UN, is calling on the countries that have not recognised a State of Palestine to do so now.

This comes after Barbados and Jamaica became the latest to recognise Palestine, joining 140 others.

“For those who have not yet recognised a State of Palestine, we say there are no grounds for further delay. Those who want to destroy a Palestinian state and with it any chance for peace are not waiting,” Mansour said during a speech at UN headquarters in New York.

“If you wonder if you are on the right side of history, ask yourselves one question: ‘Is what I’m doing advocating freedom and peace or enabling continued oppression and conflict?’ You should ask yourself that question.”



UN calls for end to West Bank violence after 14 killed in refugee camp

Amid daily violent raids on occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank, the latest Israeli military raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp left 14 Palestinians dead in late April.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has released images showing the aftermath of the raid that also destroyed UN buildings, and has called for an end to the violence.

“Everyone in this area was in danger. It was just terrorising, no more, no less. Just terror,” said Musa Salah, a resident of the camp.



‘Nothing would be delivered without UNRWA coordination’: Spokesperson

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/1/gaza-for-israel-both-threat-and-opportunity

As Israel continues to promise a devastating ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza and tries to dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the humanitarian conditions there are dire.

“UNRWA is not only the backbone of the humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip but also the glue that holds it together,” a Rafah-based spokesperson for the organisation has told Al Jazeera.

“Nothing would be delivered or provided without the coordination of our UNRWA colleagues here,” Louise Wateridge said.


Colombia’s president says country will sever ties with Israel

Colombian President Gustavo Petro says he will break diplomatic relations with Israel over its actions in Gaza.

Petro has already heavily criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and requested to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice.



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Hezbollah attacks homes in Israel

A statement from the group says its fighters have attacked two homes in the Israeli town of Shtola. It said the strike was in response to “the Israeli enemy’s attacks on the steadfast southern villages and civilian homes” in Lebanon.

No casualties were immediately reported, but we will update you on this strike as information comes in. ‏

Israeli army chief visits border with Lebanon, says preparing for ‘offensive in north’

Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi met troops and held a situational assessment on the Lebanese border earlier today, the military says.

“You are doing an excellent job of operational defence in the north, and we are preparing for an offensive in the north,” Halevi told reservists of the Eztioni Brigade.

The visit comes amid repeated tit-for-tat attacks between Hezbollah and Israel.



Israeli forces lower Palestinian flag after West Bank raid

This video verified by our fact-checking unit shows how Israeli soldiers are trying to lower Palestinian flags after a raid on the town of Qasra in the occupied West Bank.

The occupied Palestinian territory is subject to multiple daily raids, during which Palestinians are regularly killed, injured or arrested.




UK protesters ‘a whole kaleidoscope’ of different groups

May 1 is International Workers’ Day, and the demonstrators here outside the government Department of Business and Trade blockading the entrances are protesting against those workers who wish to continue sending weapons to Israel, according to the government’s contracts, but also in solidarity with those workers who don’t want to continue sending weapons to Israel.

There are trade unionists working within the department who’ve expressed extreme disquiet about the fact that they have to participate in this practice despite the uncertainty about the legal status of that.

The British government has refused to reveal what legal advice it is receiving from its lawyers about the legality of continuing to send weapons to Israel when there is a risk that they may be used in Gaza against civilians.

The protesters here are a whole kaleidoscope of different groups – there are trade unionists, there is the Black Jewish Alliance, anti-arms campaigners and others. They say they are going to continue their protest for as long as possible.

 

‘On May Day, we stood in solidarity with Palestine’: Corbyn

The former leader of the UK Labour Party and human rights advocate, Jeremy Corbyn, has been vocal in his condemnation of Israel’s actions in Gaza and calling for an end to the Israeli occupation.

He reiterated his solidarity with Palestine on May Day in a post on X:

‘Free Gaza’ march in central London







South African workers march in solidarity with Palestinians

In South Africa, unions have linked Workers’ Day commemorations to a march in solidarity with Palestinians.

Hundreds have joined trade unionists in Cape Town to call for an end to what they say is Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza. They are also calling for solidarity with Palestinian workers. President Cyril Ramaphosa has joined the rally ahead of a speech he will be giving for the upcoming elections.

“The march led up to Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, where there are thousands of people scattered around the stadium ahead of the address by President Cyril Ramaphosa,” Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller reported from inside the stadium.

“This event takes place annually on May Day, but this year it’s very much in solidarity with the people of Palestine,” she said.

Miller added that Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress has traditionally called for a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an end to the occupation of Palestine, noting that it was likely that the president’s speech would contain more of this rhetoric.

 

Greek workers rally in Athens to mark May Day, show support for Palestine






Tunisian workers rally in support of Palestinians on Labour Day

Workers and members of the of Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) have taken to the streets of Tunis to mark May Day and voice their support for Palestinians in Gaza.

Protesters waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans as they gathered in front of the union’s headquarters in Tunisia’s capital.

“Labour Day this year came drenched in the blood of thousands of Palestinian children, women, the elderly and civilians, and is immersed with the wounds of tens of thousands of those who were rained down on by the Zionist war machine,” Noureddine Taboubi, UGTT secretary-general, told the crowd.


Members of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) hold signs during a rally to mark Labour Day and to support Palestinians in Gaza, in Tunis, Tunisia, May 1



The student protests might need a separate thread as it keeps escalating....

US rights group denounces police crackdown on student protests

Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) has called the violent dismantling of pro-Palestine encampments and arrests of student protesters by US police departments “a dangerous assault on our democracy”.

“The use of city police to dismantle peaceful protests on college campuses in the United States, coupled with proposed legislation to punish Americans for criticising Israel, is a dangerous assault on our democracy and a sign of the very creeping authoritarianism infecting so much of the world,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN’s executive director.

“The Biden administration has been a shameful accomplice in sacrificing American free speech and civil society at the altar of Israeli interests and demands,” she said in a statement.

Netanyahu discusses ‘anti-Semitism on US campuses’ with Yeshiva University chief

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doubling down on his expressions of concern about “anti-Semitism” on university campuses across the US as students protest against the carnage in Gaza.

He had a meeting earlier on Wednesday at his office in Jerusalem with Ari Berman, a rabbi and the president of Yeshiva University.

The prime minister’s office said the two discussed ways of “combating anti-Semitism in US campuses” and Netanyahu welcomed an initiative to take US university presidents on an annual education programme in Poland.

The March of the Living, slated to be held later this month, is an event that focuses on educating students and university leaders on the Holocaust.

Police actions at US universities a ‘dystopian reality’

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory,  says she is “horrified by the violent actions of police at US universities smashing protests against an ongoing genocide perpetrated by a foreign country”.

In a post on X, she said, “Such a dystopian reality. May students and faculty members be safe. May the genocide end. May justice and reason prevail.”

Albanese also reposted a video of what appeared to be several police officers violently arresting a man, who she said was history professor Steve Tamari, at a pro-Palestinian protest at Washington University St Louis in Missouri.

How Biden’s White House has responded to student protests so far

The White House has condemned the student-led demonstrations against Israel on several occasions, often accusing them of fuelling anti-Semitism.

“While every American has the right to peaceful protest, calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly anti-Semitic, unconscionable, and dangerous — they have absolutely no place on any college campus, or anywhere in the United States,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement to US media outlets commenting on the Columbia protests on April 21.

That same day, Biden issued an implied criticism of the protesters in a message marking Passover.

“Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews,” the US president said. “This blatant anti-Semitism is reprehensible and dangerous – and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.”

Bates again denounced student protesters at Columbia this week after they occupied a building on campus.

“President Biden has stood against repugnant, antisemitic smears and violent rhetoric his entire life. He condemns the use of the term ‘intifada,’ as he has the other tragic and dangerous hate speech displayed in recent days,” Bates said.

“Intifada” simply means uprising in Arabic. The White House’s comment drew ridicule and outrage from Arab-American advocates.

Democrats worried about protests as election looms: Report

Many Democrats in Congress know that the images of pro-Palestinian student protests on college campuses, and police crackdowns on them, play badly among both liberal and conservative Americans.

That’s particularly problematic for the Democrats and President Joe Biden, with November’s election less than 200 days away.

“The longer they continue, and the worse that they get, the worse it’s going to be for the election overall,” a House Democrat told Axios, which also reported that Republicans were already putting together political ads linking the Democrats to the protests.

Images of attacks on police will also be sure to further alienate pro-Palestinian Americans, many of whom have pledged not to vote for Biden or the Democrats.

Campus crackdowns may deepen Biden’s trouble with young voters

The US president is already in poor standing with young voters, and the crackdown on student-led protests across the country may further his woes with that demographic heading into November’s presidential election.

Biden’s approval rating stands at 28 percent among voters under 30 years old, according to a Pew Research Center survey released last week. A recent CNN poll also showed that a staggering 81 percent of voters younger than 35 disapprove of Biden’s handling of Israel’s war on Gaza.

The Democratic president’s unconditional support for Israel, condemnation of the student protests and silence towards the mass arrest and violence against demonstrators may fuel young people’s apathy – if not antipathy – towards him.

“The Democrats can’t really afford to give people more reasons to vote against Biden, and this actually becomes one,” Omar Wasow, assistant professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley, told Al Jazeera.

Young voters can be an influential group in US elections. In a close race – as the November rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump is expected to be – low turnout among young people could spell trouble for Democratic candidates.



Colombia University

Police called in by Columbia to ‘take back their campus’: NYPD official

Kaz Daughtry, the deputy commissioner of operations at the New York Police Department (NYPD), posted on X overnight that Columbia University had requested the police to help “take back their campus.”

In the post, he included videos and photos of the incident and said that the NYPD were “dispersing the unlawful encampment and persons barricaded inside of university buildings and restoring order”.








Columbia’s Hamilton Hall: A history of student action at Gaza protest hub

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/1/columbias-hamilton-hall-a-history-of-student-action-at-gaza-protest-hub

Hamilton Hall, the academic building at Columbia University that students protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza occupied early on April 30, has a long history of student protests.

Over the past half-century, students have barricaded themselves there in protest at pivotal moments in history, including the Vietnam War and the growing global momentum against apartheid in South Africa.

Protesters dubbed the building “Mandela Hall” in honour of the South African liberation leader during the 1985 student blockade. Echoing the 1985 protests, students who took over the building on Tuesday renamed it “Hind’s Hall” in honour of six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed alongside her family by Israeli forces in Gaza.


Jewish group denounces NY police over Columbia raid

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) has condemned the New York Police Department’s actions against more than 50 Columbia and Barnard students peacefully occupying a building, as well as dozens of protesting students at the City College of New York.

“It couldn’t be clearer: These students were brutalised to protect Columbia University and CCNY’s investments in Israeli apartheid,” the group said.

Earlier, we reported many instances of police violence against students. At Columbia, this included hundreds of police with drawn weapons deploying flash-bang grenades.

“It will forever be a stain on Columbia that the administration called riot police on its own student body rather than divest from the brutality of war and occupation,” JVP said

Stefanie Fox, the group’s executive director said, “America is in the business of war-making across the world, and the militarisation of US police forces is a direct result. The US has funded and supported the Israeli government’s oppression of Palestinians for decades, with private institutions across the country profiting from the same.”

She said that Columbia is on the wrong side of history once again as it was “in its oppression of the student anti-war movement of 1968, and wrong again in its oppression of the student movement against South African apartheid in 1985”.



At least 282 people arrested during Columbia, City College raids: NYPD

The New York Police Department has said that 282 people were arrested following last night’s protests at New York’s Columbia University and the City College of New York.

The numbers were given during a news conference led by New York City mayor Eric Adams.


‘No place for acts of hate in our city’: NYC mayor

“We cannot allow what should be a lawful protest to turn into a violent spectacle that saves and serves no purpose. There’s no place for acts of hate in our city,” New York City mayor Eric Adams said at the news briefing, despite criticism that the police reaction was disproportionate to the student protests. Critics of the protests have tried to paint them as anti-Semitic, although protesters have emphasised that they are focused on ending Israel’s war on Gaza.

“I want to continue to commend the professionalism of the police department and to thank Columbia University. It was a tough decision, we understood that. But with the very clear evidence of their observation and the clear evidence from our intelligence division, that they understood it was time to move and the action had to end and we brought it to a peaceful conclusion,” he said.

Manhattan district attorney will decide whether to charge arrested protesters

The university is still closed. There are police outside the main gate and no one is allowed to go on campus unless you are a student. Everything at this point is pretty calm.

We don’t know how many [people] will be charged … They were arresting people, putting them in buses and taking them to police headquarters.

Just because someone is detained or arrested by the police does not necessarily mean they committed a crime; that will be up to the Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg.

The police will give him reports of what they believe the charges should be, but it’s ultimately up to the Manhattan district attorney to decide if any charges will be brought forward.

Police forced university media out during raid, Columbia student journalist says

Columbia University student journalist Meghnad Bose told Al Jazeera he was inside the university gates when he witnessed the police “arresting pro-Palestinian protesters who had lined up right [in front of] the gates to prevent the NYPD from coming in”.

“I saw firsthand how the police dispersed those protests, arrested them and sometimes got pretty aggressive in making sure the protesters went away,” he said.

Bose said student journalists were present in front of Hamilton Hall to document the event when the police stormed the hall and forcefully moved the journalists out.

“Apart from a couple of journalists who still managed to remain there, most of my classmates, colleagues and fellow student journalists were removed from campus. They were stationed in front of Hamilton Hall because they knew that’s where the police action was going to be, but unfortunately, they couldn’t document or bear witness to any of the important things that happened on campus.”

“We’ve got very little footage of what took place … very easily they could have been stationed at a small or medium distance away from the hall without interfering in the police action taking place.”

Bose also said that the NYPD would have to provide evidence that some of those arrested were not students, as has been claimed by New York authorities.

The New York City Police Department has a long history of violent crackdowns on student protests.

In 1968, Columbia students protesting against the Vietnam War occupied five buildings on campus. A week after the protest started, police officers cracked down on the protesters, forcefully clearing out the students.

More than 700 people were arrested, one of the largest mass detentions in New York City history. The event is now spoken about in a regretful tone on Columbia University’s website even as the administration called in the police again this week.

In 1972, a student blockade of Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall ended after police in riot gear stormed the compound to evict students demonstrating against the US military’s bombing campaign in Vietnam.

It is not just student protesters that the NYPD has been accused of mistreating. In 2021, New York’s attorney general sued the NYPD over the rough treatment of protesters against racial injustice in 2020.

Attorney General Letitia James stated that the longstanding pattern of abuse stemmed from inadequate training, supervision and discipline.


New York police display apparent bike lock to condemn Columbia protesters

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard has displayed what appears to be a standard chain for a bike lock to suggest that student protesters at Columbia University are “professional” agitators.

“This is not what students bring to school. This is what professionals bring to campuses and universities,” Sheppard told MSNBC, describing the lock as “heavy industrial chains”.

But others were quick to point out that Sheppard was showing a widely used bike lock, which is available for sale on campus.


Amazing how the tactics of the IDF apologists are mirrored in the police crackdowns.
When are they going to bring out the schematic of a Hamas command center under Hamilton Hall ;)