Columbia students stage sit-in on campus for 'solidarity in Gaza encampment' as president testifies before congress about campus antisemitism

Hundreds of Columbia University students staged a sit-in on campus in 'solidarity in Gaza' as President Minouche Shafik testified before Congress about anti-Semitism.

Students began setting up tents around 4 am on Wednesday, hours before Shafik was scheduled to testify before the House Education and Workforce Committee about rampant anti-Semitism remarks on campus. 

Inspired by the occupation of the university's Hamilton Hall in 1968 against the Vietnam War, students gathered at what they called the 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment' to demand the school administration to divest from companies affiliated with Israel

Around 60 tents dotted the campus's south lawn, featuring two large signs declaring 'liberated zone' and 'Gaza solidarity encampment.'

As of Wednesday noon, it remained unclear who organized the sit-in, but students with SJP (Students for Justice for Palestine) and PSL (Party for Socialism and Liberation) were spotted on the ground.

Videos showed the students on the main campus. It also showed officials handing out papers to the students and telling them if they didn't leave by midday they faced suspension.  

Hundreds of Columbia University students staged a sit-in on campus in 'solidarity in Gaza' as President Minouche Shafik testified before Congress about anti-Semitism

Students began setting up tents around 4 am on Wednesday, hours before Shafik (pictured) was scheduled to testify before the House Education and Workforce Committee about rampant anti-Semitism remarks on campus 

As of Wednesday noon, it remained unclear who organized the sit-in, but students with SJP (Students for Justice for Palestine) and PSL (Party for Socialism and Liberation) were spotted on the ground

Around 60 tents dotted the campus's south lawn, featuring two large signs declaring 'liberated zone' and 'Gaza solidarity encampment'

One of the protesters, Catherine Elias, told the student newspaper the Columbia Spectator the demonstrators 'won't be moved until they meet our demands. 

'Our demands are in the path and carrying the movement that has been set on this campus for over 60 years since 1968 to the 1980s to the '90s to 2024 today,'  

'The anti-apartheid movement and student organizing struggle at Columbia has been alive and well for over 60 years, and we carry all of those organizers with us as we come here today,' Elias said. 

Protesters also displayed numerous signs written on cardboard, including ones that read: 'From river to sea, Palestine will be free' and 'Say the word genocide', videos on social media show. 

Only 30 minutes after the protesters pitched their tents, a NYPD vehicle drove into the campus before representatives arrived to ask the students to evacuate. 

'The presence of tents on South Lawn is a safety concern and a violation of university policies,' a university spokesperson wrote in a statement. 

'We are informing the students they are in violation of university policies and for their own safety and for the operation of the university they need to leave.' 

Inspired by the occupation of Hamilton Hall on campus in 1968 against the Vietnam War, students gathered at what they called the 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment' to demand the school administration to divest from companies affiliated with Israel

 Protesters also displayed numerous signs written on cardboard, including ones that read: 'From river to sea, Palestine will be free' and 'Say the word genocide', videos on social media show

Only 30 minutes after the protesters pitched their tents, a NYPD vehicle drove into the campus before representatives arrived to ask the students to evacuate

The university implemented restrictions on campus access and ID checks for students shortly after the protest began. 

Representatives with Columbia University and Barnard College were spotted Wednesday, asking the protesters to leave to avoid disciplinary action.  The demonstrators responded by chanting: 'All you fascists bound to lose' and 'shame on you.'

In one video shared by a witness, a woman who appeared to be a representative could be seen handing out a sheet that she referred to as the 'university conduct code'. 

'You are in violation with the university policies. If you do not evacuate by 11am, you will be suspended,' she said. 

The demonstration continues as President Shafik faces accusations of running one of the 'worst hotbeds of anti-Semitism and hate' during a grilling in Congress. 

The Ivy League chief defended the 'peaceful' demonstrations and free speech in the surge of anti-Semitic rhetoric since the start of the Gaza war that led to the resignations of Harvard President Claudine Gay and Yale President Liz Magill.

House GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., accused Columbia's leadership of refusing to 'enforce their own policies and condemn Jewish hatred on campus, creating a breeding ground for antisemitism.' 

The demonstration continues as President Shafik faces accusations of running one of the 'worst hotbeds of anti-Semitism and hate' during a grilling in Congress

House GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., accused Columbia's leadership of refusing to 'enforce their own policies and condemn Jewish hatred on campus, creating a breeding ground for antisemitism'

Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, told Shafik that the experience of Jewish students at Columbia reminds him of the 'hated and bigotry' he experienced in the 1960s deep south, referring to one professor at the Ivy League calling the October 7 attack 'awesome.'

He directed a pointed question at the president: 'Would this treatment of black Americans be tolerated for one second on Columbia's campus?

Shafik replied 'absolutely not.'

Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., played a clip of students rallying at Columbia and shouting 'Intifada!' and 'We will honor all the martyrs!' in reference the Hamas attackers on October 7.

'While antisemitism has been festering on numerous college campuses, Columbia University stands out as one of the worst offenders,' Foxx insisted.

But Shafik insisted she has aggressively worked to combat antisemitism on campus, including holding over 200 meetings on the topic, holding daily meetings of the campus security team and working with the NYPD and FBI when hate crimes occur on campus. 

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., asked Shafik if chanting 'intifada' violates Columbia's rules.

'I find incredibly distressing, and I wish profoundly people would not use them on our campus,' said Shafik. 'It's abhorrent and has and has no place in our community.'

She went on: 'I think one of the issues that we are actively debating now ... is to actually clarify where language crosses the line from protected speech to discriminatory or harassing speech.'

Stefanik, who led the line of questioning that stumped Harvard and Yale's presidents in December, asked a series of pointed questions directed at Shafik.

She asked him about 'disciplinary actions' taken against Columbia professor Joseph Massad, who celebrated the Hamas attack on Israel calling it 'awesome.'

Shafik said that he is still a professor at Columbia, but had a stern talking to.