The great lawn in the center of Columbia University's Manhattan campus is normally where students meet up to study in the sun, or before heading out into the Morningside Heights neighborhood for drinks. These days, it has become the central gathering point for protesters in a movement that has spread from the Middle East to New York and universities across the United States.

Columbia president called police on protesters

On April 18, Columbia University's president, Nemat (Minouche) Shafik, called the New York City Police Department to campus, where officers in riot gear arrested more than 100 students who had set up tents on the campus green to protest Israel's military operations in Gaza.

"I took this extraordinary step because these are extraordinary circumstances," Shafik wrote in a campus-wide email Thursday afternoon, saying she had made the decision with "deep regret."

Columbia also suspended the students who were arrested; nevertheless, tents have since started to pop back up.

Professors walk out in solidarity with students

On Monday, hundreds of Columbia faculty members staged a walkout to demonstrate their solidarity with the student protesters and criticize university leadership. The university announced that classes would be held remotely on Monday, and later said they would be taught in a hybrid model for the remainder of the school year.

The students are protesting the military strikes the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been carrying out in Gaza in response to the terror attack by militant-Islamist Hamas on October 7, 2023, which saw 1,200 people killed by Hamas and around 240 people taken hostage. More than 34,000 people have since died in Gaza according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory has been described by international organizations as catastrophic, with barely any food, water or medication available to the population.

"We demand our voices be heard against the mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza," Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of pro-Palestinian Columbia student groups, wrote in a statement shared Monday on Instagram. "Our university is complicit in this violence and this is why we protest." 

NYU, Yale and other universities also see protests

In recent days, pro-Palestinian student protests have spilled over from Columbia to other universities. At New York University, a subway ride away from Columbia, a student encampment swelled to hundreds of protesters on Monday. After university authorities asked people to leave and claimed the scene got disorderly, they, too, called police, who arrested several students.

Harvard Yard, a central area at Harvard University outside of Boston, was closed to the public Monday, and structures, including tents and tables, were only allowed into the yard with prior permission.

At Yale University in Connecticut, police officers arrested about 45 protesters and charged them with misdemeanor trespassing on Monday. All were released on promises to appear in court later, police said.

Across university campuses, protesters have called for their schools to back a ceasefire in Gaza and divest from companies with ties to Israel.

Accusations of antisemitism

There have also been accusations of antisemitism against the protests.

NYU leadership said it had learned of "intimidating chants and several antisemitic incidents" at its student protest.

Shafik said antisemitic harassment had recently taken place on the Columbia campus. "The decibel of our disagreements has only increased in recent days," the university president said. "These tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas."

The student coalition organizing the protest at Columbia has rejected antisemitism accusations against the protest as a whole, saying it was a few individuals trying to co-opt their cause who behaved in an unacceptable manner.

"We firmly reject any form of hate or bigotry and stand vigilant against non-students attempting to disrupt the solidarity being forged amount students — Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, Jewish, Black, and pro-Palestinian classmates and colleagues who represent the full diversity of our country," the group said in its Instagram statement.

US's Israel policy unpopular with young Americans

The widespread protests make clear that many young Americans are unhappy with President Joe Biden's Israel policy. Historically, the US has always been a close ally of Israel, and Washington continues to be Israel's strongest backer in its current conflict with Hamas.

When Israeli troops began military operations in Gaza, Biden emphasized the US's strong allegiance with Israel. But as more and more civilians in Gaza have been killed, many people on the liberal spectrum in the US — especially young voters — have voiced dismay about their tax dollars being used to fund Israel. They want the president to call for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and stop all aid to Israel.

The US stance does have an effect on Israel's actions. After a series of Israeli airstrikes killed several aid workers this spring, Biden issued an ultimatum, saying the US would change its supportive policy if Israel didn't address civilian suffering in Gaza and the safety of aid workers. After the statement, Israel immediately announced steps aimed at increasing the flow of aid to Gaza.

Edited by: Jon Shelton