As the crisis in the Middle East rages on, universities continue to grapple with pro-Palestinian protests that have paralyzed campuses across the country.
At the center of it all, a showdown is shaping up on the Columbia University campus. Protestors smashed windows and invaded Columbia's Hamilton Hall, chanting their genocidal cry – "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" – after school officials finally issued an ultimatum.
Overnight, the pro-terror mob took over Hamilton Hall at @Columbia University posting on social media that they have “taken matters into their own hands.”
The mob used metal gates to barricade the doors, blocked entrances with wooden tables and chairs, and zip-tyed doors shut.… pic.twitter.com/Rbiff4X7sj
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) April 30, 2024
The anti-Israel protestors made their way from the West Lawn to Hamilton Hall shortly after the university said it would suspend students who refused to leave a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus grounds after 2 p.m. on Monday.
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Students who attend the Ivy League institution posted to social media that they have "taken matters into their own hands" after school officials announced Monday the university will not cut financial ties with Israel.
"This escalation is in line with the historical student movements of 1968, 1985, and 1996 which Columbia repressed then and celebrates today," the group wrote. "This action will force the University to confront the blood on its hands."
One video posted shows students entering Hamilton Hall, carrying barricades.
Students, faculty, and staff have been directed to "immediately vacate" Pulitzer Hall, the university's journalism school building, due to "safety concerns," CNN reported.
Meanwhile, the White House is condemning the nationwide sharp rise in antisemitism that has left many Jewish students feeling scared, abandoned, and threatened as anti-Jewish protestors even block them from going to class.
"We believe and we have said, antisemitism is hate speech and it is abhorrent and there is no place for antisemitism on campus or any anywhere else," said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
But lawmakers from both parties are calling out the Biden administration for exposing Jewish students to harassment by not doing enough to confront the anti-Israel outbursts.
Over the weekend, local police arrested more than 270 protestors at four schools. But the protests only appear to be growing despite the total number of arrests approaching 1,000 nationwide.
Dozens of students have been arrested at Yale University, NYU, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, and Emerson College.
At UCLA, violence broke out between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students.
A Jewish Columbia University student is suing the school for allegedly failing to provide a safe environment.
The class action lawsuit claims Columbia has "become a place that is too dangerous for Columbia's Jewish students to receive the education they were promised."
It takes particular issue with the university's decision to go to a hybrid learning model last week after days of unrest.
"Jewish students…get a second-class education where they are relegated to their homes to attend classes virtually and stripped of the opportunity to interact meaningfully with other students and faculty and sit for examinations with their peers," the lawsuit said. "The segregation of Jewish students is a dangerous development that can quickly escalate into more severe acts of violence and discrimination."
As CBN News reported, Columbia University president Nemat "Minouche" Shafik said classes would be held virtually last Monday, the first day of Passover, and the school was planning to increase security on campus adding 35 security guards and more than 100 other safety-related personnel.
At the same time, school officials announced they were coming together to discuss a way to end "this crisis."
Shafik has faced criticism for failing to shut down the protests sooner.
House Speaker Mike Johnson recently called for her resignation "if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos."
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