Last month, on the first day of classes for the new term, several pro-Palestinian protesters entered a classroom where the "History of Modern Israel" was being taught. They handed out flyers showing a boot crushing the Star of David and made it impossible for the instructor to continue.
Two of the students who disrupted the class were expelled. This brought a reaction from some pro-Palestinian activists who stormed the dean's office and proceeded to have a "sit-in."
A small group of masked demonstrators “forcibly entered Milbank Hall” and “physically assaulted a Barnard employee, sending them to the hospital,” Robin Levine, Barnard College’s VP for Strategic Communications, said in a statement Wednesday evening.
“They encouraged others to enter campus without identification, showing blatant disregard for the safety of our community,” Levine said. “Violence and intimidation have no place here.”
Perhaps if Barnard and its affiliated institution, Columbia University, had shown the protesters there was no compromise with evil when the protests began in 2022, they wouldn't still be trying to disrupt classes.
“They encouraged others to enter campus without identification, showing blatant disregard for the safety of our community,” Levine said. “Violence and intimidation have no place here.”
The New York City police said that many of the protesters were not students at either Columbia or Barnard.
The group protesting, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, claims otherwise.
Barnard President Laura Rosenbury sounded far more determined to deal with the protesters than Columbia.
“Tonight, a small group of masked protesters attempted to undermine Barnard’s core values of respect, inclusion, and academic excellence," Rosenbury said. “Thanks to the efforts of our staff and faculty, the protesters have now left Milbank Hall without further incident. But let us be clear: their disregard for the safety of our community remains completely unacceptable."
That strong statement collapsed into a heap of mush when it became known that the dean agreed to meet with the protesters “after successfully forcing administrators to the negotiating table."
They were demanding that last week's two expulsions be reversed, amnesty for students disciplined for pro-Palestine views, and a public meeting with Barnard Dean Leslie Grinage and President Laura Rosenbury.
The group said Barnard had already suspended over 50 students for pro-Palestinian protest. The expulsions last Friday marked the first at either Columbia or Barnard for pro-Palestinian protest, and the first expulsions for protest on the campus since 1968.
Last year, Columbia University was the site of tense student-led protests decrying the Israel-Gaza war and demanding the university divest from companies that support Israel. Tent encampments were erected on the campus quad and demonstrators took over campus buildings in protests that saw the school call in the New York City Police Department.
Every pro-Palestinian student arrested should be forced to watch this wrenching eulogy by Yarden Bibas to his wife and children, murdered in cold blood by Hamas.