Columbia University has cancelled its university-wide commencement ceremony after it cracked down on student protests in support of Palestinians, a campus movement that spurred a wave of similar demonstrations around the world.

In a statement on Monday morning, Columbia said it would prioritise “Class Days and school-level ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, rather than the University-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15”.

Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families,” it said.

The decision comes just days after the Columbia administration called New York City police onto campus to disperse students who had occupied a school building and erected a protest encampment to show solidarity with Palestinians.

The students have demanded an end to Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip and urged Columbia to divest from any companies that are complicit in Israeli abuses against Palestinians.

The Columbia protest encampment and subsequent crackdown by police — during which hundreds of people were arrested — inspired similar initiatives at universities across the United States, as well as in Canada, France and the United Kingdom.

University administrators have accused pro-Palestinian demonstrators of using anti-Semitic language and creating an unsafe environment on campus.

US President Joe Biden made similar claims during a speech last week addressing the protest movement.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education,” Biden said on Thursday. “There’s a right to protest but not the right to cause chaos.”

But the demonstrators have rejected those allegations, saying the decision to send police officers to break up the Gaza encampments and arrest participants is what put students in harm’s way.

Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting on Monday from a Gaza encompment at George Washington University in Washington, DC, said the protest there has “definitely grown” in recent days.

“There’s tent after tent of water or food, and signs saying, ‘Everything is free just like Palestine will be one day,’” Culhane said.

Mariam, a Jewish student demonstrator who spoke to Al Jazeera using only her first name, said anti-Semitism allegations are intended to divert attention from Gaza.

It’s meant to take the focus away from the genocide in Gaza, and it is meant to take the focus away from our demands,” she said.

Those demands include protecting pro-Palestinian speech on campus, divesting from the Israeli state and ending academic partnerships with Israeli institutions.

“We are going to stay here,” Mariam added. “It doesn’t matter what the police do, what the university administration does. We are going to keep fighting until our demands are met.”

Monday’s announcement at Columbia also came as The Israeli military ordered Palestinians  in eastern Rafah, part of the southern Gaza Strip, to leave the area before an expected ground assault.

Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said in a statement that a Rafah offensive “could lead to the deadliest phase of this conflict, inflicting horrific suffering on approximately 1.4 million displaced civilians in the area”.

manitarian crisis and a lack of food, water and medical supplies.

“Rafah had become the last refuge for hundreds of thousands of families, deprived of any semblance of safety. With nowhere else to go, they are facing the threat of prolonged displacement and death,” Egeland said.

Source: Al Jazeera

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After a meeting with Columbia University President Minouche Shafix, House Speaker Mike Johnson called on her to resign Wednesday if she can’t tamp down Gaza war protest at the school and threatened federal funding for colleges that don’t create safe environments for their Jewish students.

“We just can’t allow this kind of hatred and antisemitism to flourish on our campuses. And it must be stopped in its tracks. Those who are perpetrating this violence should be arrested,” Johnson, R-La., said on the steps of Columbia’s Low Library, flanked by several of his Republican colleagues.

“I am here today joining my colleagues and calling on President Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos,” he continued. “As speaker of the House, I’m committing today that the Congress will not be silent as Jewish students are expected to run for their lives and stay home from their classes hiding in fear.”

Johnson’s appearance was met by boos and heckling from the crowd. After he ended his news conference, someone yelled: “Get the f— out of here!”

The protesters chanted “We can’t hear you” and “Mike, you suck!”

Students also chanted “Free Palestine.” From where Johnson stood, he could look out beyond the crowd of student protesters and see the tent encampment.

At one point Johnson shook his head and said, “Enjoy your free speech.”

Johnson’s delegation met with Shafik and top university officials, urging them to do more to stop the harassment of Jewish students at Columbia and to end the pro-Palestinian encampment that has sprung up on the campus. Other college campuses around the country have been the scenes of similar demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza.

Johnson said in an interview after his speech that he respects the right to protest but that he thought the students on campus had crossed into harassment.

“It’s always nuanced to control to allow students a free marketplace of ideas and allow that to be unimpeded, and that is the role and responsibility of a government institution and even a private one,” said Johnson, a former constitutional lawyer. “But in this case, the reason we’re here today is because this has crossed the line. And I think almost every American of good conscience and good faith understands that.”

Responding to GOP calls for Shafik’s resignation, the Columbia University Board of Trustees said in a statement Wednesday it “strongly supports President Shafik as she steers the university through this extraordinarily challenging time.”

“During the search process for this role, President Shafik told us that she would always take a thoughtful approach to resolving conflict, balancing the disparate voices that make up a vibrant campus like Columbia’s, while taking a firm stance against hatred, harassment and discrimination. That’s exactly what she’s doing now,” the board said. “We are urgently working with her to help resolve the situation on campus and rebuild the bonds of our community; we encourage everyone who cares about Columbia to join us in that effort.”

A rabbi connected with Columbia urged Jewish students this week to leave campus amid the protests, and the university soon thereafter said it was moving to hybrid learning to ensure student safety. Students have described being harassed and heckled as they tried to move across campus.

Asked by a reporter whether he agrees with some Republicans who have called on the National Guard to break up the Columbia encampment, Johnson said he plans to call President Joe Biden after his visit and “share with him what we have seen with our own two eyes and demand that he take action.”

“If this is not contained quickly, and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard. We have to bring order to these campuses,” he said.

He then issued this threat to colleges: “If these campuses cannot get control of this problem, they do not deserve taxpayer dollars,” adding that House Republicans will be working on legislation to address the situation.

Shafik testified last week before the House Education Committee about antisemitism on campus. On Wednesday, the committee’s chair, Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., also threatened Shafik with congressional action.

“I have a message, President Shafik, and a message for you all, too: The inmates are running the asylum. Take back control of this once great institution,” Foxx said at Columbia. “You took action last week. It’s time to act again. If not, the committee will pursue every possible avenue to create a safe learning environment for Jewish students.”

Members of the New York Republican delegation — Reps. Mike Lawler, Nicole Malliotakis and Anthony D’Esposito — also joined Johnson at Columbia. Lawler said Shafik must resign.

“It is time for President Shafik to resign in disgrace. She has lost control of this campus. She has lost control of this institution. And after listening to her comments inside it is clear that she has no intention of getting this university under control and ensuring the safety and well-being of every student,” Lawler told reporters.

“That is what is entitled to students attending this institution,” he said. “If the students are not safe, if the institution will not act, Congress has a responsibility to do so, and we will.”

Wrapping up his news conference, Johnson, a father of four children, offered a message for the students in the encampment.

“Go back to class and stop the nonsense there. Look, if we want to have a debate on campus about the merits of these things, let’s do that. But you can’t intimidate your fellow students and make them stay home from class. Think about that. Is that right? Do you think that’s right?” he asked.

“Stop wasting your parents’ money,” he said.

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Source: NBC News

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