Columbia University student event praising Hamas October 7 massacre in Israel goes ahead – even after it was BANNED by college

A banned student event at Columbia University justifying the Hamas massacre has gone ahead despite assurances that it would be stopped.

Video of a meeting in the lobby of a campus building shows a speaker praising the “creativity and determination” of Palestinian “liberation fighters” on October 7.

Columbia Social Workers 4 Palestine first advertised the meeting at Manhattan College as a time to discuss the “significance of the October 7 Palestinian counteroffensive.”

The group's so-called “teach-in and discussion” was scheduled to take place Wednesday in a room at the Columbia School of Social Work.

But on Monday, school officials said the group “did not seek approval for the flyers and text” and announced the event would not take place at the school of social work.

A banned Columbia Social Workers 4 Palestine event went ahead Wednesday despite the university saying it would be banned

Crowds gathered in the lobby of the School of Social Work to listen to a speaker call the Hamas terrorists “freedom fighters”

However, a video has since surfaced showing an event in the school's lobby.

“On October 7, the Palestinian liberation fighters showed their refusal to be dominated,” a female speaker tells the crowd.

“They showed the world that the Palestinian people will fight for freedom rather than quietly acquiescing to subjugation. They showed us that through creativity, determination and combined strength, the masses can achieve great things.”

She also denounced Israel's “genocidal policy,” a reference to the campaign of retaliatory airstrikes the state has carried out since the attack, which the Health Ministry estimates have killed more than 17,000 Gazans.

“It is a sign of Israel's weakness,” the speaker added. “Israel's only means to achieve its political goal is to carry out a treacherous bombing campaign.”

She compared the Palestinians' struggle to the situation in Afghanistan and Vietnam, claiming that people who had shown solidarity with the besieged country had lost their jobs because of their stand.

A social media post promoting the banned event said the group would discuss the “significance” of the “counter-offensive” and the “centrality of revolutionary violence in anti-imperialism.”

But the institution's administrators intervened to prevent the event from taking place on its premises.

It was expected to still go ahead elsewhere, but organizers instead held the meeting in the lobby of the School of Social Work.

Columbia and other universities have become a focal point of tensions over Israel and Gaza, with demonstrations such as this one at Manhattan College on October 12 becoming a common occurrence

Columbia School of Social Work said the case is currently under review.

“We informed student organizers that this event could not take place at school due to their failure to adhere to protocol,” a statement from the school said.

“As a result, we prevented access to the classrooms that the students wanted to use. Despite clear directions, the event was not allowed, but a group of students moved to host the event in the lobby of our school.

“University officials informed the students of the possibility of disciplinary action and urged them to disperse, which they did.

Universities have become a flashpoint for tensions over Israel's Gaza conflict.

Last month, the Columbia government banned student groups Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace for organizing unsanctioned demonstrations.

The groups called for an immediate ceasefire, but were accused of “threatening” and “intimidate” Jewish students on campus.

In the wake of that administration decision, more than two dozen progressive elected officials, including New York congressional representatives Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman and Nydia Velázquez, reportedly sent a letter to Columbia calling for the groups' reinstatement .

The latest demonstration comes after the presidents of MIT, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania were forced to testify before Congress about rising anti-Semitism on their campuses.

Sally Kornbluth, Claudine Gay and Liz Magill were questioned for hours about the angry protests at their schools and what they have done to protect Jewish students, many of whom say they now feel unsafe going to class.