Inside the Columbia Encampment as Pro-Palestinian Protests Rock Campus | WSJ News

After months of demonstrations against the war in Gaza, the unrest reached a boiling point in the final weeks of the school year at Columbia University. WSJ's Erin Ailworth visited the school’s tent encampment to hear from students. Photo: Sarah Blesener

#columbia #university #protest #wsj

[peacekeeper]

I was was trying to figure out why the students are protesting. It is difficult to understand for the average person like me what is happening. After much internet research here is the truth:

The student protesters want the university's endowment fund (worth US$13.6B) to divest investments held in weapons manufacturers and tech companies with ties to Israel, profiting from Israel's apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine.

Columbia University students have a history of activism and action taken here often spreads to other Ivy league schools. This is what Israeli leadership is afraid of.

In April 1985, students led a three-week student demonstration against Columbia's investments in South Africa, the New York Times reported at the time. The demonstration involved around 150 students blocking access to the entrance of a campus building. Months after that protest, trustees voted to sell the majority of Columbia's stock in American companies doing business in South Africa.

[eleazarguerra]

ARE this students receiving loan Forgiveness from Joe

[kaydee]

How many Muslim students are there in this university?

[JTS]

Why don't you guys talk about the Israeli hostage situation..Why is Hamas not liberating them?

[N-pw]

Heroes of the Voice of Truth, continue, for the echo of your voice is strong and influential. We are with you👏🏻👏🏻🇵🇸❤️

[MaliBrizi]

GOD BLESS YOU DEAR STUDENTS ❤️❤️❤️ LOVE AND RESPECT

[Muzhdaaaa-uj]

So proud of these students for standing up with humanity and showing their solidarity. This by the way is not something uncommon, students stood up for Civil right movement, Vietnam, BLM and much more. This is their basic human right to peacefully protest.

[saikatmajee]

The world is very much concerned about human rights violation in USA. UN needs to intervene without any delay.

[Finetworks]

Homeland SECURITY must and should be ALERT.

[tigersforever]

Of course, the UN in its insatiable and infinite hatred of Israel and the indomitable Jewish spirit has not designated Hamas a terrorist entity.

[solly]

Not only do they pay for education in america but also get arrested and jailed if they dont wanna pay for some other countries warr

[jameslshaffer]

The federal government needs to pull tax dollars from these colleges

[jacobchan]

International governments should do more about the protests

[colin]

I can tell you that NYC does not take kindly to encampments due to the density of the city. These students did this knowing that there was a 100% chance of a police confrontation.

[johnglasgow]

Remember publicly available Police arrest photos with no facial coverings are forever. Hint future employers.

[sabrinaafrinsimi]

"The nazis made me afraid of being Jewish and the zionists made me ashamed of being Jewish." - Israel Shahak

[ThethSeahorse]

Gee…..they are really fortunate not to have heavy rains.

[ronulo]

Is the pandemic still going on there ?

[JupiterThunder]

When I was at university in the 80s, students were there to study and learn. It wasn't regarded as a platform for political protest - you could do that anywhere, why do it at university? Unless of course to give the totally bogus impression that the university officially supports your political protest, which it doesn't as that is not its function. I was too busy learning 500 years' worth of physics, that's what I was there to do, and there was no time to do anything else if you wanted make a success of it. I'm amazed that these days students waste their time and money at university doing this garbage, when they are spending so much money, but then I guess if Joe Biden writes off all the student debt off to taxpayers, then they are the one being forced to pay for these protests even if they don't agree with them.

[a.michelle]

🇺🇸This is wrong. If these students feel SO STRONGLY they should go to Palestine and protest in Israel.