An anti-Israel student group is behind the fierce protests on the campus of Columbia University New York City says he walked away from talks with school leaders until administrators pledged not to arrest him or forcefully remove him from his camp on the Ivy League institution’s West Lawn.
“Since good-faith negotiations are impossible if one side threatens to use force to extract concessions, the student negotiating team has left the table and refuses to return unless there is a written commitment that “The administration will not engage the NYPD or the National Guard,” the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), an anti-Israel organization, announced in a statement around 1 a.m. Wednesday.
The SJP and affiliated groups also accused Israel of launching a “genocidal attack” in Gaza, referring to its military response to the deadly Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, which killed more than 1,200 Israelis and injured more than 200. More were kidnapped and held hostage. ,
Anti-Israel mob stages ‘Seder on the street’ near Schumer’s home in NYC
Pro-Palestinian supporters rally outside Columbia University in New York City on April 23, 2024. In response to recent campus unrest and concerns regarding Jewish student safety, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik announced a shift to online learning starting Monday. He urged faculty and staff to prioritize remote work. (Gina Moon/Getty Images)
Critics of the protest group, including Jewish students and teachers, say the demonstrations are disrupting learning and creating unsafe conditions. anti-semitic environment $65,000 per year at university.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft publicly condemned school leaders in a statement from his philanthropic organization and announced he would withdraw support for his alma mater in the current climate.
Anti-Israel protesters form a barricade on the campus of Columbia University in New York City, Monday, April 22, 2024. The university announced that all classes will be held virtually today in response to the ongoing demonstrations on campus. (Peter Gerber)
The SJP refused to break up the camp when police removed tent cities set up by like-minded agitators at other major universities, including NYU on the other side of the city and Yale in Connecticut.
After NYU leaders asked the NYPD to remove a group setting up tents outside the university’s Stern School of Business on Monday, staff rushed to build a temporary plywood wall around the perimeter — complete with steel doors and police guarding .
A barricade is constructed outside New York University’s Stern School of Business on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in New York City. The mural comes a day after more than 100 people were arrested at a protest outside the building. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
About 150 protesters moved to Washington Square Park a block away, where they chanted anti-Semitic and anti-police slogans for hours.
Earlier in the day, Yale University Police escorted a similar group out of the school’s Beinecke Plaza.
Protesters were instead allowed to gather in a public square, where some people were seen hitting Tommy Bahama beach chairs, while many others sat with laptops, as long as the group voluntarily dispersed during rush hour. The passengers did not disperse in time to clear the way.
Protesters block an intersection just outside Yale University on Monday, April 22, 2024 in New Haven, Connecticut. The protests continue after a week of demonstrations calling for the university to divest from military weapons manufacturers. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
Neither group alleged that police used excessive force following the cleanup, even as NYU protesters were accused of throwing objects at police.
However, Columbia’s leaders were resistant to the idea of allowing police on campus, and instead turned back to the COVID-era distance education When Jewish students expressed concern for their safety.
As Columbia administrators and representatives of radical students failed to reach a compromise on campus, another group of protesters gathered near the senator’s home. chuck schumer In Brooklyn.
WATCH: Anti-Israel mob rallies outside Senator Schumer’s NYC home
The New York Democrat, who is Jewish, is also the Senate majority leader. Protesters there condemned his support for Israel and demanded that he stop providing US arms to Israel for its ongoing fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
NYPD officers arrest anti-Israel protesters blocking streets outside the Brooklyn home of Senator Chuck Schumer on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in New York City. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
The NYPD arrested dozens of protesters after they sat down in the middle of a major intersection and refused to move. Onlookers, obeying police orders to let cars pass, cheered as their compatriots were led out in groups of two to four at a time with their wrists zipped behind their backs. The arrested people were later put in jail buses.
Police did not immediately provide a summary of the numbers. Arrest and charges,
Police equipped with tactical equipment also gathered near the Columbia campus Wednesday morning — but they did not remove any protesters after the school announced it would extend the deadline for them to leave by another 48 hours.
Despite SJP’s furious declaration, the school said the talks had involved “constructive dialogue”.
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In a statement posted on its website, the university said protesters had agreed to shrink their encampment on school grounds, remove non-student agitators and police themselves against “discriminatory or harassing language.”
