Students occupy the Columbia University building to protest the war in Gaza

NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of demonstrators occupied the Columbia University building in New York early Tuesday, setting up barricades at the entrances and hanging the Palestinian flag from the window, in a new escalation of anti-war demonstrations between Israel and Hamas that have spread to campuses across the country. United State.

Video footage showed protesters on Columbia University's Manhattan campus with their hands tied outside Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carrying furniture and metal barricades into the building, one of which was occupied during a civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest in 1968. Organizers urged the At nightfall people defended the camp and joined them at Hamilton Hall. There was a sign reading “Free Palestine” hanging from the window.

“An independent group has restored the Hind Building, formerly known as ‘Hamilton,’ in honor of Hind Rajab, a martyr who was murdered by the genocidal State of Israel when she was six years old,” CU Apartheid Divest wrote early Tuesday in X Before Twitter.

Student radio station WKCR-FM covered the takeover of the building step by step, which occurred about 12 hours after a 2 p.m. deadline Monday for protesters to leave an encampment of about 120 tents under threat of suspension.

University representatives did not initially respond to emails seeking comment early Tuesday, though the school's Department of Public Safety said in a statement that only students staying in residence halls and service staff would have access to the core Morningside campus as the restoration Public safety and maintenance. There will only be one point of entry and exit from the building.

The statement added, “The safety of every individual in this community is of the utmost importance.”

In their post on

Universities across the United States were trying to find a way to clear camps before impending graduation ceremonies. Some remained in negotiations while others resorted to force and ultimatums, leading to clashes with police. Dozens of people were arrested on Monday in protests at universities in Texas, Utah, Virginia and New Jersey, while Columbia University said a few hours before the Hamilton building was occupied that it had begun suspending students.

Protests began on campuses across the country in response to the Israeli attack on Gaza after Hamas carried out a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7.

The militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostage. Israel pledged to eliminate Hamas and killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.

Israel and its supporters have described the student protests as anti-Semitic, while Israel's critics say the accusation is being used to silence dissenting voices. Although some demonstrators were recorded making anti-Semitic comments or violent threats, protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and condemning the war.

At the University of Texas at Austin, an attorney reported that at least 40 protesters were arrested on Monday. The clash represents an escalation of the situation on the 53,000-student campus in the state capital, where more than 50 demonstrators were arrested last week.

Later Monday, dozens of UT riot officers attempted to clear an encampment outside the university president's office, an operation that continued into the afternoon. Police dragged students by their hands and feet, broke tent poles, and detained those who refused to leave with zip ties. Seventeen people were arrested. The university said overnight camping on campus was prohibited, and students were given several warnings before police intervened.

At Princeton University, 13 people were arrested Monday night, including 11 students, after a faculty building was briefly occupied. They received court summonses for trespassing and were banned from campus, according to a statement from the center's president, Christopher Eisgruber.

The plight of detained students has become a central part of the protests, with students and a growing number of teachers demanding a pardon for the protesters. The question is whether suspensions and court records will follow students throughout their adult lives.

Protests in Texas and elsewhere — including Europe and Canada — were inspired by early demonstrations in Colombia, which have continued. On Monday, student activists in Colombia defied a 2pm deadline to leave the camp. A few opposition demonstrators waved Israeli flags, and one carried a sign that read: “Where are the anti-Hamas chants?”

Although the university did not call the police to disperse the protesters, university spokesman Ben Chang said that it was Columbia University that initiated the suspension process. Protest organizers said they were not aware of any comment Monday night.

In a rare case, Northwestern University said it had reached an agreement with students and faculty who represent the majority of protesters at its campus near Chicago. It allows peaceful demonstrations until classes end on June 1, requires the removal of all but one tent for assistance, and restricts the demonstration area to allow only students, faculty and other staff unless otherwise approved by the university.

At the University of Southern California, organizers of a major camp met with university President Carol Folt on Monday. Folt declined to provide details, but said he listened to the demonstrators' concerns and that the dialogue would continue on Tuesday.

The University of Southern California sparked controversy on April 15 when it barred a student spokesman, who has publicly supported the Palestinians, from giving an inaugural address, citing unspecified security reasons for his unusual decision. The institution later canceled a speech by director John M. Chu, a former student, and refused to award honorary degrees.

Anger over those decisions and protests at Columbia University inspired encampment and demonstrations on campus last week, where riot police arrested 90 people. The university canceled its main graduation ceremony.

Elsewhere, officials tried to salvage graduation ceremonies, with many ordering camps to be evacuated in recent days. When these attempts failed, officials threatened disciplinary action, including suspension and possible arrest.

But students have held steady at some top-ranking universities, including Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, and others. Riot police attempted to clear an encampment at Virginia Commonwealth University on Monday evening and clashed with protesters.

___

Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas, and Mathis from Nashville, Tennessee. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report, including Hannah Schoenbaum, Sarah Brumfield, Stephanie Dazio, Christopher Weber, Carolyn Thompson, David Collins, Mekia Ciminera and Corey Williams.