Palestine activists praise Hamas in NYC as Columbia students stage second day of 'Gaza solidarity' camp

Palestine activists protesting at Columbia University praised Hamas as demonstrators entered their second day of 'Gaza solidarity camp.' 

At least five people were arrested as a brawl broke out at the school- just one day after the president was accused of running 'hotbed of anti-Semitism and hate.' 

In a video from Wednesday, pro-Palestine and pro-Israel demonstrators clashed outside of the school as one person screamed: 'We are Hamas!' while a man wearing an Israel flag on his back and a yamaka on his head walked past her. 

As another man filmed the angry protestor and shoved his phone in her face, she repeated: 'Yes, we are all Hamas b****!' 

A female NYPD officer was heard saying: 'We just want to keep the peace,' to pro-Israel protestor.  

During another protest, people were seen flooding the Ivy League campus, waving around Palestinian flags and chanting: 'Oh Al-Qassam, you make us proud! Kill another soldier now!' 

In a video from Wednesday, pro-Palestine and pro-Israel demonstrators clashed outside of the school as one person screamed: 'We are Hamas !'

A pro-Israel protestor is seen with an Israeli flag draped on his back and a yamaka on his head as he stares down pro-Palestine demonstrators  

A female NYPD officer (far left) was heard saying: 'We just want to keep the peace,' to pro-Israel protestor (right)

On Wednesday night, another crowd took over the campus, as an activist group told participants to 'bring snacks' for the event. 

Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine took to X and posted a video of the rowdy crowd chanting 'I believe that we will win,' as they jumped up and down with signs in their hands. 

The group said: 'POWER TO THE PEOPLE. Join us outside our encampment all night long. Bring a friend, blankets, and snacks!'

In another clip, a mass of people crammed onto a subway train, banging drums, as they chanted: 'Free our prisoners, free them all! Zionism will fall!' while on their way to Columbia. 

People clapped their hands as keffiyeh scarves covered their mouths, and quickly changed the chant to: 'Free our prisoners, free them all! Israel will fall!' 

According to Columbia Daily Spectator, the NYPD confiscated a Yemeni, Palestinian and transgender flag from participants on Wednesday. 

A witness told the outlet that at least two more people were detained, including a minor. They said that the minor was using an air horn during the demonstration. 

An NYPD spokesperson confirmed that one person was arrested with zip-ties, but did not specify what they were charged with.  

Each group praised Hamas, a Palestinian resistance group that took over the Gaza strip in 2007. 

On October 7 the Israel-Hamas war began as Hamas militants, known as Qassam Brigades, stormed Israel. 

The same protestor who said 'We are all Hamas b*****,' is seen screaming at a female pro-Israel demonstrator 

The Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine group enticed participants to 'bring a friend, blankets and snacks to the protest' 

At the time of the attack, the military group used an arsenal of rockets and drones to destroy the Israeli fence separating Gaza. 

'This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on Earth,' Deif, the Qassam Brigades military commander said following the attack.  

The ongoing terror attacks have killed more than 30,000 people and caused a massive uproar across the world. 

Earlier on Wednesday, hundreds of Columbia University students staged a sit-in on campus in 'solidarity in Gaza' 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.

In another protest on Wednesday, a large group of pro-Palestine protestors took to the streets outside of Columbia University and chanted: 'Oh Al-Qassam, you make us proud! Kill another soldier now!'

In another clip, a mass of people crammed onto a subway train, banging drums, as they chanted: 'Free our prisoners, free them all! Zionism will fall!' 

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

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. 

During Shafik's hearing, the Ivy League chief defended the 'peaceful' demonstrations and the students' right to free speech in the surge of anti-Semitic rhetoric since the start of the Gaza war. 

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 and a hotbed of support for terrorism from radicalized faculty and students.' 

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.'

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. 

She said the 'vast majority' of protests on campus have been 'peaceful' and said the college is focused on upholding free speech, but 'cannot and shouldn't tolerate abuses of this pledge to harass and discriminate.'