A Columbia University student who said she joined a pro-Palestine protest at NYU told an interviewer she wasn’t certain what exactly they were protesting against.
Both New York City-based schools have made headlines over their incessant demonstrating this past week, with both schools now home to several encampments on campus.
In an interview posted by former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, the undergrad was asked why she was there.
‘I think the goal is showing our support for Palestine and demanding that NYU stops… I honestly don’t know all of what NYU is doing … I really don’t know.’
She then asks a friend, wearing a facemask, what the protest is meant to be about and the friend also appears unaware.
A Columbia University student who said she joined a pro-Palestine protest at NYU told an interviewer she wasn’t certain what exactly they were protesting against
‘I wish I was more educated,’ the second protester admits.
The camera then turns back to the first protester, who said that students at NYU needed assistance due to an increased police presence.
‘I heard there was lots of cops, some people were saying it was getting dangerous,’ the protester said.
The video has been viewed over a million times and re-posted by over 10,000 people on social media platform X.
Both NYU and Columbia students have been asking for an end to the war on Gaza but also for their specific institutions to divest from Israeli companies and military contractors.
Columbia students are also protesting the school’s attempt to open a campus in Tel Aviv, according to Teen Vogue.
The protesters are also hoping for a permanent cease-fire while pushing Israel to limit casualties with more than 34,000 Palestinians dead.
More than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators camped out at Columbia were arrested Thursday, with dozens more people arrested at other campuses. Many now face charges of trespassing or disorderly conduct.
In an interview posted by former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, the undergrad was asked why she was there and wasn’t sure the exact cause
She then asks a friend, wearing a facemask, what the protest is meant to be about and the friend also appears unaware
A New York University Student holds a Gaza sign during a rally held in Washington Square Park to protest the arrests made during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment yesterday
The protesters have demanded that their universities condemn Israel´s assault on Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and divest from companies that do business with Israel.
Some people have reported antisemitic chants and messages at and around the Columbia campus, and similar concerns have been reported at other universities. Some Jewish students say they´ve felt unsafe on campus.
The White House, in a message Sunday to mark the Passover holiday, denounced what it called an ‘alarming surge’ of antisemitism, saying it ‘has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.’
Four Jewish Democratic members of Congress toured Columbia´s locked-down campus on Monday with members of the school´s Jewish Law Students Association.
They condemned that things had escalated to where Jewish students felt unsafe and the university canceled in-person classes Monday.
Columbia said it would use hybrid remote and in-person learning through the end of the spring term.
A spokesperson for Columbia University slammed ‘untrue and unsubstantiated’ claims that the Ivy League institution has called in the National Guard on pro-Palestine encampments on campus.
It comes as demonstrators claim school officials threatened to call in the National Guard to the campus, which has been besieged by protests since last Wednesday.
The protesters have demanded that their universities condemn Israel´s assault on Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and divest from companies that do business with Israel
A group of NYU students, faculty and supporters hold signs to free Palestine during a rally held in Washington Square Park
The NYU Stern School of Business noarded up After Anti Israel Demonstrations
Ben Chang, the school’s VP of Communications, told the press Wednesday of rumors they’d contacted the National Guard: ‘Let me be clear: that is untrue and an unsubstantiated claim.’
The university reaffirmed that it protesters last night that they will continue conversations for the next 48 hours after the group ignored a midnight deadline to vacate the West Lawns.
He did say, however, that the protests as things stand are in violation of university rules and that only people with a university ID will be allowed on campus going forward.
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik met with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and other members of Congress Tuesday afternoon.
Johnson waded into hostile scenes at Columbia University as the Republican confronted a mass of anti-Israel protestors on Wednesday.
He brushed off the boos and jeers of students and instead condemned the protest, the latest in the ‘virus of antisemitism’.
Johnson slammed the crowds in Columbia as being ‘lawless agitators and radicals’ and questioned their ability to become ‘leaders of America’ – as he praised the Jewish students who remain committed to their education.
‘We will not be silent while Jewish students are expected to run for their lives,’ Johnson warned.
The crowd yelled and jeered in an attempt to rattle him but Johnson was unperturbed.
A spokesperson confirmed that Columbia University President Minouche Shafik met with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and other members of Congress Tuesday afternoon
‘Enjoy your free speech!’ he replied as he left before issuing one final slap down: ‘Stop wasting your parents money’.
The Louisiana lawmaker arrived at the New York campus on Wednesday afternoon, hours after he called for the Columbia president to resign on a morning radio show.
‘What we’re seeing on these college campuses across the country is disgusting and unacceptable,’ Johnson told The Hugh Hewitt Show.
‘Every leader in this country, every political official, every citizen of good conscience has to speak out and say that this is not who we are in America, and we have got to have accountability.’
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