Palestinian activists protesting at Columbia University praised Hamas as demonstrators entered their second day of the ‘solidarity camp in Gaza’.
At least five people were arrested when a brawl broke out at the school, just one day after the president was accused of running a “hotbed of anti-Semitism and hatred.”
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.
As another man filmed the angry protester shoving his phone in her face, she repeated: “Yes, we are all Hamas b****!”
A female NYPD officer told a pro-Israel protester, “We just want to keep the peace.”
During another protest, people were seen flooding the Ivy League campus, waving Palestinian flags and chanting, “Oh Al-Qassam, you make us proud! Now kill another soldier!’
In a video from Wednesday, pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters clashed outside the school as one person shouted, “We are Hamas!”
A pro-Israeli protester is seen with an Israeli flag on his back and a yamaka on his head as he stares at pro-Palestinian demonstrators
A female NYPD officer (far left) is heard saying, “We just want to keep the peace,” to a pro-Israel protester (right)
Another crowd took over campus on Wednesday evening, as an activist group told participants to “bring snacks” for the event.
Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine went to
The group said: ‘POWER TO THE PEOPLE. Join us all night outside our camp. Bring a friend, blankets and snacks!’
In another clip, a crowd of people crammed into a subway car, beating drums as they chanted, “Free our prisoners, free them all!” Zionism will fall!’ while en route to Columbia.
People clapped their hands as keffiyeh scarves covered their mouths, quickly changing the chant to, “Free our prisoners, free them all!” Israel will fall!’
According to Columbia Daily Spectator, The NYPD seized a Yemeni, Palestinian and transgender flag from participants on Wednesday.
A witness told the newspaper that at least two more people have been arrested, including a minor. They said the minor used an air horn during the demonstration.
An NYPD spokesperson confirmed that one person had been arrested with zip ties, but did not indicate what he was charged with.
Each group praised Hamas, a Palestinian resistance group that took over the Gaza Strip in 2007.
On October 7, the war between Israel and Hamas began when Hamas militants known as Qassam Brigades stormed Israel.
The same protester who said ‘We are all Hamas b*****’ is seen shouting at a female pro-Israel protester
The group Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine enticed participants to “bring a friend, blankets and snacks to the protest”
At the time of the attack, the military group used an arsenal of rockets and drones to destroy the Israeli fence dividing Gaza.
“This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth,” Deif, the military commander of the Qassam Brigades, said after the attack.
The ongoing terrorist attacks have killed more than 30,000 people and caused outrage worldwide.
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.
Inspired by the 1968 occupation of the university’s Hamilton Hall against the Vietnam War, students gathered in what they called the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” to demand the school board divest companies linked to Israel.
About 60 tents lined the southern lawn of the campus, with two large signs reading “Liberated Zone” and “Solidarity Encampment in Gaza.”
On Wednesday afternoon it remained unclear who organized the sit-in, but students from SJP (Students for Justice for Palestine) and PSL (Party for Socialism and Liberation) were spotted on the ground.
At another protest on Wednesday, a large group of pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets outside Columbia University and chanted, “Oh Al-Qassam, you make us proud! Now kill another soldier!’
In another clip, a crowd of people crammed into a subway car, beating drums as they chanted, “Free our prisoners, free them all!” Zionism will fall!’
About 60 tents lined the southern lawn of the campus, with two large signs reading “liberated zone” and “solidarity encampment in Gaza.”
Videos showed the students on the main campus. Officials were also seen handing out papers to students and telling them that if they did not leave by noon, they could be suspended.
During Shafik’s hearing, the Ivy League head defended the “peaceful” demonstrations and students’ right to free speech amid the wave of anti-Semitic rhetoric since the start of the Gaza war.
Republican Conference Chairman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., 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 by radicalized teachers and students. .’
Burgess Owens, R-Utah, told Shafik that the experience of Jewish students at Columbia reminds him of the “hated and bigotry” he experienced deep in the South in the 1960s, referring to an Ivy League professor who reported the attack of October 7 called ‘great.’
Shafik maintained that she has worked aggressively to combat anti-Semitism on campus, including holding more than 200 meetings on the topic, holding daily meetings of the campus security team and working with the NYPD and FBI when hate crimes occur on campus.
She said the “vast majority” of campus protests 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 .’