Columbia University President Nemat Shafik testified before a House committee Wednesday. On Thursday, she urged NYPD officials to break up a pro-Palestinian protest on the New York campus. (AP Photo/José Luis Magana)
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New York City police officers in riot gear began making dozens of arrests at Columbia University Thursday afternoon, after the school’s president, Minouche Shafik, called for arrests. help to evacuate demonstrators from a pro-Palestinian encampment.
In a letter sent to the NYPD, Shafik said “the encampment and resulting disruptions pose a clear and present danger” to the school.
“It is with great regret that we request the assistance of the NYPD in removing these individuals,” Shafik wrote.
The school’s student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, reported that “more than 100 people” were arrested at the “Gaza Solidarity Camp” around 1 p.m.
The protest and encampment were organized by activists who want Columbia University to divest from companies operating in Israel. Protesters also want a ceasefire in Gaza and the creation of a Palestinian state.
The clash at Columbia came a day after university leaders, including Shafik, testified before a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. that anti-Semitism was a growing concern.
Columbia trustee Claire Shipman responded to a lawmaker’s question by saying “we have a moral crisis on our campus.”
In an email to NPR, an organization called the Institute for Middle East Understanding said protests at the university would continue.
“Despite threats from the university, the Gaza Solidarity Camp will remain in place until Columbia University divests all of its finances, including its endowment, from corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid ” the group said.
In a statement posted Thursday on Columbia University’s website, Shafeek said requesting police help to evacuate the protesters’ encampment was “an extraordinary measure because these are extraordinary circumstances.”
“This morning I had to make a decision that I hoped would never be necessary,” she said.
Meanwhile, Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Ohmar’s daughter was suspended from Barnard College on Thursday for participating in the Columbia University protest.
“Those of us in the Gaza solidarity camp will not be intimidated,” said Isra Hirsi, 21. wrote on social networks. “We will remain resolute until our demands are met.”
NPR’s Elissa Nadworny contributed reporting.
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