After New York Police arrested students protesting at Columbia University's Hamilton Hall, urging their university to divest from "Israel" on April 30, its faculty staff have said that they were "horrified" by these arrests. 

A Lecturer at Columbia Law School, Bassam Khawaja, said on May 1 that he was "horrified to see Columbia invite police onto our campus for the second time this month to arrest our students."

"Columbia has chosen escalation at every turn here, with disastrous results," Khawaja added.

"The administration said that the protests were a disruption and presented safety risks, but it is the administration itself that has disrupted campus life by locking us out, relocating or postponing students’ exams, bringing in police to arrest students, and inviting police to remain on campus for the next two weeks until graduation," he stressed. 

Speaking with The Independent, he said, "It’s quite unusual to have to be doing advocacy to ensure that our only students here in New York have the same right to protest to hold peaceful protests and express our support for human rights."

'Shame on our administrators'

Highlighting the stance of faculty staff on the way the students are being treated, he added, "You’re seeing outrage from faculty, not just at Columbia, but at universities across the country, including faculty who do not support the protests themselves, but nevertheless are outraged that the university takes the heavy-handed approach and calling in police to arrest their own students."

"I think for many, many faculty across the country that just crosses a line," Khawaja stressed.

As students gathered on May 1 near the entrance of Hamilton Hall, a Palestinian American historian and professor of modern Arab studies at the university Rashid Khalidi said, "We are [on] the right side of history. Shame on our leaders, shame on our administrators, for allowing the police onto our campus. The US is part of this war [in Gaza], it’s our taxes, our bombs, our F-15s and Apache helicopters being used to kill Palestinians."

Addressing police repression, he emphasized, "What we witnessed last night in terms of police repression is a fraction of what Palestinians have experienced for 56 years."

Another faculty member, English professor Jennifer Wenzel also expressed, "When I saw that police ‘tank’ coming up the street, something in my heart broke. I stood and sobbed. The trustees had broken their compact with the university and I do not know it will come back. It did not have to happen this way. We had rules, institutions and procedures set up in the wake of 68 and they chose to throw all of that away."

Press ban 

Students from Columbia's journalism school had to create a makeshift newsroom at Pulitzer Hall, an academic building used for awarding the Pulitzer prices across the lawn from Hamilton Hall, because the press had been banned from going on campus. 

The Dean, Jelani Cobb, sent an email to journalism students and faculty saying, "Last night’s events demanded the most from Columbia Journalism School. But we saw in real-time how reporters’ dedication to the truth helps all of us understand what is at stake during a time of crisis."

"I want to extend my gratitude towards the faculty and staff who worked tirelessly into the late night in order to ensure our students’ safety, and their continued access to campus," Cobb added. 

Praising the protests, he expressed to the students, "You are a part of history now. Your perseverance during a confusing and challenging moment cannot be understated. You told the stories the global public deserved to hear. You helped the School to meet its mission."

To avoid arrest, the dean instructed the students inside Pulitzer Hall, to stay there as he said, "No one was allowed to enter or leave campus."

"It was truly inspiring to see our faculty and our students, shoulder to shoulder, covering a national news story that emerged on our doorstep," the dean emphasized. 

A graduate journalism student who was working in Pulitzer Hall at the same of the storming of Hamilton Hall, Emily Byrski, said that upon hearing about what was going on at Hamilton Hall, she just "threw stuff in a bag and sprinted to campus." 

Revealing that she had a mere three hours of sleep on April 30, she added "It has been exhilarating, intense, and terrifying all at the same time."

"All of the professors came together. Everyone showed out in force. It was truly incredible," Byrski expressed in admiration. 

The student-run campus radio station WKCR, which subsequently also stayed in Pulitzer Hall, started a live broadcast of the evening.

Police attack faculty staff

In light of police violence against students and faculty staff members, a video online showed police forces pushing down to the ground an economic professor at Emory University in Georgia for attempting to verbally intervene during the arrest of a student. 

What is happening in USA universities is unprecedented. US turned into an oppressive state university, the police arrest Professor Noelle McAfee, head of the Philosophy Department at Emory University in Atlanta, during a pro-Palestine protest on campus.

pic.twitter.com/WXB3k9RWt9

— Moody (@Moody2145) April 26, 2024

Another video from the same university showed the chair of its philosophy department being carried away in handcuffs while urging people who witnessed this event to "call the philosophy department office and tell them I’ve been arrested."

The flint 

Pro-Palestine protesters at New York City's Columbia University were subject to a brutal assault on May 1 after a large police force invaded the campus and dispersed demonstrators. 

Students and staff have been escalating their actions in support of Palestine, amid a blatant Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people, establishing an encampment and occupying Hamilton Hall, which they renamed Hind's Hall on April 28. 

Led by Columbia President, Minouche Shafik, the university's administration has worked on dismantling the demonstrations, which have spread across universities in the US and Western countries.

Shafik urged New York Police Department (NYPD) officers to disperse protesters, remove the encampment, and maintain a presence in the university until May 17.