Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters broke into the Millbank hall on the Barnard College’s Manhattan campus on Wednesday and sat down on two students who interrupted Israeli classes. sparked a showdown with the Barnard administration.
The video they shot showed masked protesters pushing it toward a security guard when they entered the building at about 4 p.m. to occupy the area outside Dean Leslie Grinage’s office.
A university spokesman said in a statement that protesters “beat a Barnard employee and took them to the hospital when they entered the building.” A 41-year-old man was taken to Mount Sinai Hills Hospital by ambulance at 4:08 p.m. to complain about “physical pain” and was in a stable condition, a police department spokesman said.
When Barnard sets a deadline and threatens to take further action, such as calling at the New York Police Department, sit-in ends.
Wearing “Only One Solution, Rebellion Revolution” and playing drums, the masked student began to sit in meditation. Their requests include suspensions and reversals of amnesty for all other students who have disciplined against pro-Palestinian activism. They also requested a public meeting with Dean Grinage, who said they could decide on an appeal for student suspension, and Barnard President Laura Rosenbury.
Colombia Colombian justice students in Palestine, a forbidden group on campus, posted on X on X's Colombian justice students, “interference, disinvestment, resistance, protest, incitement, until the general amnesty”. “We won’t stop until our requirements are met.”
Hours later, Barnard Classics Chairman Kristina Milnor told students that Dean Grinage was willing to meet with up to three protesters, provided they were not released.
The students rejected these terms. Professor Milno told students that President Rosenbury is in Florida.
At about 8:30 p.m., Barnard spokesman Robin Levine issued a statement saying that if students do not agree to leave the building by 9:30 p.m., “Barnard will be forced to take other necessary measures to protect our campus.”
She said the academy did not know if all the protesters were Barnard's students and there was violence into the hall.
“We have made multiple well-intentioned efforts to downgrade. The Barnard leader offered to meet with protesters in a simple condition – just like when we met with all members of the community: remove their masks. They refused. We also provided mediation,” Ms. Levine said in a statement.
Another faculty member forwarded the deadline to protesters, who told them they had an hour to say before the police officers came. As deadlines come and go, several students are seen escape from the windows on the first floor.
At 10:40 pm, protesters recite scriptures and beat drums, swimming peacefully without confronting the police. Student newspapers have at least nine police station vans parked on Riverside Avenue near campus, according to Columbia audiences.
Students protested at Columbia University on January 21 against the expulsion of two students accused of participating in the “Modern Israel History” class taught by Avi Shilon.
Professor Shilon, a visiting history professor from Israel, has been reviewing the syllabus with students when four masked pro-Palestine protesters entered the classroom. The protesters filmed themselves, saying they were undermining the “Zionist class” from “intellectualization and standardization of genocide.” They distributed anti-Semitic flyers, including one of the Jewish stars who were prepared for the reigns.
He said in an interview that after recovering from his initial shock, Professor Xilong asked the protesters if they wanted to stay and study instead of disturbing the class. They refused. About five minutes later, they left.
Student protest group Columbia University’s apartheid divest revealed the deportation of the two students. Barnard officials declined to discuss the status of the students who have not yet been identified, citing confidentiality.
Exit was a rare punishment, and the speed and severity of Barnard's discipline surprised many students. The third protester who interrupted the classroom was a Colombian student who was suspended as the investigation continued. A fourth protester has not been identified.
President Rosenbury said in a statement Sunday that student privacy rules prevented her from commenting directly about her eviction. “That is, in principle and policy, Barnard will always take decisive action to protect our communities as places to learn and grow, individuals feel safe and higher education,” she wrote.
She said the students did not show remorse for their behavior and showed “no reflection and no desire to change.” Indeed, Columbia University’s segregation deprived of the interrupted video, celebrated it, writing, “Students destroyed Zionist classes, so should you!”
Eryn Davis Contribution report.
