Ilhan Omar’s activist daughter Isra Hirsi is suspended from Barnard College over anti-Israel protests
- Isra Hirsi, daughter of progressive Squad member Ilhan Omar, was suspended from her university for participating in an anti-Israel protest
- “Those of us in the Gaza Solidarity Camp will not be intimidated,” Hirsi wrote
- It comes as several days of pro-Palestinian protests have rocked student life at Columbia University, leading to brawls and arrests.
- Hirsi is an organizer of Columbia University Apartheid Divest – a group that advocates for the university’s divestment from Israel
The daughter of progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar was suspended from her college after protesting an anti-Israel rally on the campus of Columbia University, according to posts on her social media.
Irsa Hirsi, Omar’s daughter, reported that she was one of three students “suspended for showing solidarity with Palestinians facing genocide.”
Her suspension comes as Columbia University has been rocked by pro-Palestinian protests over the past two days, leading to several arrests and brawls.
‘[I’m] an organizer at CU Apartheid Divest @ColumbiaSJP, in my three years at @BarnardCollege I have never been reprimanded or received disciplinary warnings,” the Democrat’s daughter posted on X.
‘I have just received a message that I am one of the three students who have been suspended because they stand in solidarity with the Palestinians who are facing a genocide.’
“I am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing genocide,” the Democrat’s daughter posted on X
Isra Hirsi (second from left) poses with her mother, Rep. Ilhan Omar (center)
“Those of us in the Gaza Solidarity Camp will not be intimidated,” said another post by Hirsi.
“We will stand firm until our demands are met. our demands include divestment from companies complicit in genocide, transparency of @Columbia’s investments and COMPLETE amnesty for all students who face repression.”
Hirsi describes herself as an “angry black girl” in her X-profile biography and played a role in organizing the multi-day protest on the university campus.
Dozens of students have spent the past few days setting up tents and camping on the university’s South Lawn, across from the iconic Butler Library.
There were about 60 tents on the lawn, some with two large signs reading “liberated zone” and “solidarity encampment in Gaza.”
In a video from Wednesday, pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters clashed outside the school as one person shouted, “We are Hamas!” as a man with an Israeli flag on his back and a yamaka on his head walked past her.
At least five people were arrested this week when a brawl broke out at the school, just one day after the president was accused by lawmakers in Congress of running a “hotbed of anti-Semitism and hatred.”
Columbia University President Nemat Shafik was accused of running a hotbed of anti-Semitism during a congressional hearing Wednesday over her handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
The head of the Ivy League defended “peaceful” demonstrations and students’ right to free speech amid the wave of anti-Semitic rhetoric since the start of the Gaza war that led to the resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay and Yale President Liz Magill.
But House of Representatives Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik accused Columbia’s leadership of refusing “to enforce their own policies and condemn Jewish hatred on campus, creating a breeding ground for anti-Semitism and a hotbed of support for terrorism of radicalized teachers and lecturers was created. students.’
“Those of us in the Gaza Solidarity Camp will not be intimidated,” said a message from Hirsi.
Self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., hugs Hirsi as her mother, Rep. Ilhan Omar, watching
Earlier on Wednesday, hundreds of Columbia University students staged a campus sit-in in “solidarity in Gaza,” hours before Shafik was scheduled to testify before the House Education and Workforce Committee about rampant anti-Semitic comments on campus.
But Shafik insisted she has worked aggressively to combat anti-Semitism on campus, including holding more than 200 meetings on the topic, holding daily campus security team meetings and working with the NYPD and FBI when hate crimes occur on campus.
She said the “vast majority” of protests on campus have been “peaceful” and that the college is focused on upholding freedom of expression but “cannot and should not tolerate abuse of this promise to intimidate and discriminate .’
This story is current and will be continually updated.