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Columbia University backed off late Thursday from an overnight deadline for pro-Palestinian protesters to abandon an encampment as the students settle in for the 10th day of protesting. University president Minouche Shafik (Pictured) released a statement less than hour before the midnight deadline retreating from the cutoff to dismantle a large tent camp with around 200 students.
‘The talks have shown progress and are continuing as planned. We have our demands; they have theirs,’ Shafik said. The statement denied that New York City police were invited on the campus. ‘This rumor is false,’ it said.
Student protesters say they are expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza , where the death toll has topped 34,305, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. At Columbia, protesters defiantly erected a tent encampment where many are set to graduate in front of families in just a few weeks.
Columbia officials said that negotiations were showing progress as they neared the school’s deadline of early on Friday to reach an agreement on dismantling the encampment. Nevertheless, two police buses were parked nearby and there was a noticeable presence of private security and police at entrances to the campus.
Members of the New York Police Department’s Strategic Response Group stage outside the main gate at Columbia University early Friday. Police have carried out large-scale arrests in universities across the country, at times using chemical irritants and tasers to disperse protests over Israel’s war with Hamas.
A week after Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (Pictured) daughter, Isra Hirsi, was arrested for protesting at Columbia University, she and her progressive ‘Squad’ member mother visited the pro-Gaza camp on campus to enjoy the campus and take selfies with activists. Hirsi was one of more than 100 individuals arrested last Thursday for participating in an anti-Israel demonstration. She was also suspended from Barnard College the same day.
‘I had the honor of seeing the Columbia University anti-war encampment firsthand,’ Omar posted on X after her campus visit. ‘Contrary to right-wing attacks, these students are joyfully protesting for peace and an end to the genocide taking place in Gaza. I’m in awe of their bravery and courage.’
Her post accompanied a video of her shaking protestors hands and receiving warm welcomes from the students. Omar’s trip comes a day after Speaker of the House Mike Johnson , R-La., visited the campus to condemn the demonstrators to a chorus of boos and protest. Johnson slammed the crowds at Columbia as being ‘lawless agitators and radicals’ and questioned their ability to become ‘leaders of America.’
He also praised the Jewish students who remain committed to their education and have braced vicious anti-Israel protests to do so. ‘We will not be silent while Jewish students are expected to run for their lives,’ the speaker told the crowd.
Johnson, who met with Columbia University President Minouche Shafik before making his address, publicly called for her to resign if she remains unable to control the protests that have roiled on campus. He also threatened to pull federal funding from schools that are unable to ensure the safety of their Jewish students.
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