Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al-Nakhalah: We are the rightful owners, and we must fight to retrieve our rights
Al-Nakhalah: The enemy and its allies must know that we can never surrender to their terms and diktats after all the sacrifices made
Al-Nakhalah: The prisoner exchange clause can be completed in the next few days, and thus we will have pulled the [explosion] fuse and removed the enemy's justifications for aggression
Al-Nakhalah: The Resistance has expressed its willingness to negotiate on the basis that there are items that can be dealt with positively, the first of which is the prisoner exchange item
Al-Nakhalah: Trump's plan entails the Palestinian people's declaration of complete surrender to the enemy
PIJ Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, in an address aired on Al Mayadeen: The Resistance is engaging in a fierce negotiating battle under the so-called Trump plan
Russian Federation Council approves joint military cooperation agreement with Cuba
Al-Nunu: Today, the lists of prisoners required to be released, the agreed-upon criteria and numbers, were exchanged
Al-Nunu from Sharm el-Sheikh: Negotiations focused on mechanisms for implementing an end to the war, the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, and the exchange of prisoners
Al-Nunu from Sharm el-Sheikh: Mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles in the way of implementing the ceasefire, and a sense of optimism now prevails among all parties

Columbia cancels commencement amid campus protests

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 6 May 2024 20:38
4 Min Read

The UK's oldest universities, Oxford and Cambridge, have joined the call to divest from "Israel" with encampments beginning on their grounds.

  • x
  • Columbia cancels commencement amid campus protests
    People rally against "Israel" on the campus of Columbia University, in New York, on April 22, 2024. (AFP)

Columbia University said Monday that it will cancel its two major ceremonies for graduates after suspending protesters who refused to leave their pro-Palestine encampments. 

Columbia has been at the forefront of student protests against the war on Gaza, with protests spreading across US institutions.

The University's leadership and police have clamped down with a wave of arrests, suspensions, and class disruptions.

The institution announced that "Class Days and school-level ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers," will take place instead.

According to Columbia's leadership, "These past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for our community," adding that it is still "eager to all come together for our graduates and celebrate our fellow Columbians as they, and we, look ahead to the future."

It is worth noting that protests forced the University of Southern California to be the first institution to cancel its graduation event.

UK's oldest universities join protests

Tents have begun to appear on the lawns of Oxford and Cambridge, the UK's oldest universities, as student demonstrators assemble to urge their schools to divest from "Israel".

A big banner reading "Welcome to the people's university for Palestine" hangs outside the encampment in front of Oxford's Pitt Rivers Museum, along with placards demanding the universities "divest from genocide."

The "global student uprising" includes UK universities, such as University College London, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Leeds, Warwick, Swansea, and Bristol.

Camp leaders at Oxford have posted a board with six demands to the university, including "boycotting Israeli genocide, apartheid, and occupation," "disclosing all finances," "stop banking with Barclays," "helping rebuild Gaza's education system," and "divesting from Israeli genocide, apartheid, and occupation."

Related News

Retired Israeli General Brik: 'Israel has reached point of no return'

UK arms exports to 'Israel' reach record high despite ban calls

Cambridge For Palestine organizers posted a list of demands on social media, urging the university to "disclose and divest from its financial and professional support for Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza; re-invest in affected academics; and protect all forced migrants and protesting students."

It also details how the institution "facilitates the ethnic cleansing of Palestine" through academic collaborations and investments in firms that make weapons for the Israeli government.

The campsite on King's Parade in Cambridge is organizing various events throughout the day, including de-escalation training for demonstrators, a demonstration, and a meal sponsored by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.

An Oxford institution representative stated that the school was aware of the rally and that "we respect our students' and staff members' right to free expression in the form of peaceful protest," adding that the school asks all those who participate to "do so with respect, courtesy, and empathy."

Irish, Swiss students launch campaign in solidarity with Palestine

Dublin's Trinity College students in Ireland and Lausanne University in Switzerland have joined US universities in solidarity with the encampments protesting against the Israeli war on Gaza.

The encampment at Trinity College forced the university to block campus access this weekend and shut down the Book of Kells exhibition, which is one of the top tourist attractions.

However, the encampment was the result of the students' union saying the university fined it 214,000 euros ($230,000) for losses caused by protests in recent months, not exclusively over Gaza. Now, the protesters are demanding that the college cut academic ties with "Israel" and divest from companies with ties to the occupation regime. 

Laszlo Molnarfi, the president of the institution's student union, told Irish public broadcaster RTE that the students demand the university sever any relationships it has with "Israel".

"The Book of Kells is now closed" for an indefinite period, Molnarfi posted on X, adding, "No business as usual during a genocide."

Students at Trinity College Dublin have set up an encampment for Palestine, demanding that their university cut ties with Israel as per BDS principles supported by the vast majority of students and staff. 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 @TrinityBDS @tcdsu @tcddublin pic.twitter.com/Uw44FjLmaJ

— László Molnárfi (SU) (@TCDSU_President) May 3, 2024

European universities join 

Meanwhile, in Lausanne, almost 100 students occupied a building demanding an end to scientific cooperation with "Israel".

One protester told Swiss television on Saturday that "Palestinians have been dying for over 200 days, but we're not being heard," adding, "Now there's a global movement to get governments to take action, but it's not happening. That's why we want to get universities involved now."

On Friday, France's Sciences Po University in Paris witnessed police forces dragging dozens of students out as they had staged a sit-in across several buildings on campus in protest of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

  • Columbia University
  • pro-Palestine protest
  • Palestine
  • war on Gaza
  • Israel
  • Israeli occupation
  • United Kingdom
  • Oxford University

Most Read

Tucker Carlson speaks at a memorial for Charlie Kirk, Sunday, September 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (AP)

Tucker Carlson: Israeli officers gave orders on Iran inside Pentagon

  • Politics
  • 2 Oct 2025
A Hamas fighter in combat fatigues stands before the ceremony for the handover of Israeli captives to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, February 22, 2025 (AP)

Hamas responds to Trump plan, backs Gaza withdrawal, exchange

  • Politics
  • 3 Oct 2025
ap

'Israel' pays influencers $7K per post to whitewash Gaza genocide

  • Politics
  • 1 Oct 2025
Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder revealed

Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder exposed

  • Politics
  • 5 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
In this May 20, 20201, photo Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, arrives in Baghdad, Iraq (AP)
Politics

US spent $33 billion on post-Oct.7 genocide, wars, Brown Uni reports

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., holds a news conference to mark the seventh day of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP)
Politics

US troops face unpaid wages as government shutdown drags on

Mourners wave Hezbollah and a Palestinian flag during the funeral of Hezbollah former leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his successor Sayyed Hashem Safieddine in the Sports City Stadium in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, February 23, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Hezbollah voices support for Gaza, Resistance on October 7 anniversary

Al-Aqsa Flood restored Palestinian cause on the global stage: Hamas
Politics

Al-Aqsa Flood restored Palestinian cause on the global stage: Hamas

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS