House panel seeks Columbia Palestine protesters' disciplinary records
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The US House of Committee on Education and the Workforce sent a 6-page letter saying that Columbia had failed to curb pro-Palestine protests.
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A demonstrator waves a flag on the Columbia University campus at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment, in New York, on April 29, 2024. (AP)
The US House Committee on Education and the Workforce demanded Columbia University turn over disciplinary records by the end of this month for students who participated in anti-"Israel" protests between April and January 2024, denouncing the Ivy League University's handling of the students.
The House panel sent a six-page letter to the university leadership saying that the university failed to deliver its promise to students, faculty, and Congress that it'd address "anti-semitism", saying that "Columbia’s continued failure to address the pervasive anti-semitism that persists on campus is untenable, particularly given that the university receives billions in federal funding."
The letter cites the protesters taking over the campus last year, and students disrupting an Israeli professor's lecture this semester. The letter adds that Columbia failed to properly discipline those responsible, which created a "hostile environment for members of Columbia’s Jewish communities."
Trump cracks down on student protesters
Students across major universities in the US launched anti-war, pro-Palestine protests across the country, setting up solidarity encampments, with some students calling for their universities to cut ties with "Israel."
Trump signed an executive order that allows the US government to use "all available and appropriate legal tools to combat anti-semitism, including prosecuting and deporting those accused of anti-Semitic harassment," with the order targeting pro-Palestine student protesters.
The current US president vowed to expel student protesters from the United States and get rid of pro-Palestine protests to a group of donors saying, "One thing I do is, any student that protests, I throw them out of the country. You know, there are a lot of foreign students. As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave."
American-Zionist group World Betar compiled a list of names of students on Visas to send to Trump to deport them for joining in anti-"Israel" protests after the group launched a campaign to identify these students.
Columbia professor, NYU students persecuted over pro-Palestine activism
Earlier last month, Katherine Franke, a law professor and outspoken supporter of pro-Palestine students, parted ways with Columbia University on January 11, following an investigation into comments she made about Israeli students. This marked the consequence of activism surrounding Gaza on a major university campus amid the ongoing Israeli genocide.
Franke, a tenured professor, had supported pro-Palestine students amid protests at the university last year. She was one of several faculty members investigated for alleged anti-semitism.
She described her departure as "a termination dressed up in more palatable terms," stating in a Friday statement that she agreed to leave due to Columbia becoming a "toxic and hostile environment." Columbia University spokesperson Samantha Slater confirmed that a complaint had been filed accusing Franke of discriminatory harassment in violation of university policies, leading to an investigation.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, a nonprofit legal group, condemned the end of Franke's career at Columbia as an "egregious attack on both academic freedom and Palestinian rights advocacy."
In a related context, more than a dozen NYU students and faculty distributed flyers and hung banners throughout the Bobst Library, while 13 individuals staged a sit-in on the library's administrative floor.
The protesters were demanding a meeting with university administrators, who had previously promised to reveal details of the university's endowment, including investments in weapons manufacturers and companies linked to "Israel" and its occupation of Palestine, during the spring Gaza solidarity encampment movement.
