Columbia University Cracks Down on Anti-Israel Protests as Divestment Demands Ignored

Columbia University has started suspending students who refuse to adhere to their order to disperse anti-Israel protest camps on campus. The protesters, who have been demanding that the university divests from Israel following negotiations with student representatives, were given a 2 p.m. Monday deadline by officials at Columbia. Students who complied and signed a form agreeing to abide by University policies will be allowed to complete their semester; those who did not face suspension until they could no longer finish the term or graduate, as well as being barred from all academic, residential, and recreational spaces on campus. The university warned that the encampment’s continuation would impact next month’s commencement ceremony for graduating students. Security concerns at USC in Los Angeles led to its main-stage event being cancelled recently during anti-Israel protests at several universities, including Columbia and Yale, calling for divestiture from Israel amidst ongoing hostilities between the Jewish state and Hamas terrorists since last October when the terrorist group initiated an attack against Israeli civilians.