In support of Palestine, students walk out of Hilary Clinton's class
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In one incident, a "doxxing truck" was circling Harvard University’s campus to expose students who allegedly signed a letter blaming "Israel" for the atrocities in Gaza.
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Hilary Clinton during a talk in Union Hall, Iowa, United States on December 22, 2015 (AFP)
Numerous students left a Hillary Clinton-taught class in New York on Wednesday in protest of Columbia University's complicity in the "shaming" of protesters who supported Palestine.
The former Secretary of State and Senator was giving a lecture on foreign policy as part of her global affairs class, where some 30 students participated in the demonstration.
The walkout came after an incident last week in which, according to The New York Times, images of students who signed a declaration blaming "Israel" for the Palestinian Resistance operation on October 7 were shown on video screens on trucks parked close to the university campus with the phrase "Columbia's biggest antisemites" underneath.
The New York Post stated that a "doxxing truck" was also circling Harvard University’s campus to expose students who allegedly signed a letter blaming "Israel" for the atrocities in Gaza, and the truck has been displaying students' pictures and standing outside their homes.
Doxxing is the act of publishing someone's private information in order to shame them or make them feel unsafe.
The demonstrators claimed that the images were taken from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (Sipa) "secure and private" student portal.
According to The Times, the walkout was organized and nonviolent, and those who left joined several other protesters in the school lobby.
Protesters demanded "immediate legal support for affected students," as well as "a commitment to student safety, well-being, and privacy."
Last week, Clinton criticized those advocating for a ceasefire as ignorant about Hamas, demonstrating her strong pro-"Israel" stance since the aggression on Gaza started.
Columbia is one of the colleges that has turned into a focal point for anti-war demonstrations.
A sizable contingent of pro-"Israel" demonstrators attended a rally organized by National Students for Justice in Palestine last month on campus as part of a "day of resistance" against "Israel's" military aggression in Gaza.
A statement endorsing "Palestinian resistance against over 75 years of Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid" was signed by the pro-Palestinian students whose faces were displayed on screens close to the university last week. "The weight of responsibility for the war and casualties undeniably lies with the Israeli extremist government," the statement said in part.
According to a Columbia spokesperson, the vehicles were "concerning".
Speaking to The Guardian, the spokesperson added that “many individuals, including students across several schools, have been subject to these attacks by third parties," including publicizing their names and photos.
“The University’s overriding priority is the safety and security of its students and community. The University and Sipa take this responsibility very seriously – and this includes speaking out against doxxing, a dangerous form of intimidation, as unacceptable.”
This comes as US media have recently reported that the federal government is initiating new efforts to monitor and address the purported rise in what is alleged to be "anti-semitism" on college campuses across the country, which is fallaciously argued to have surged since the war on Gaza began earlier this month.
On another occasion, contradicting what the US authorities are claiming to be anti-semitism, the New York Police Department has arrested 200 people after breaking up a mass demonstration of mainly Jewish New Yorkers who took over Grand Central Station in protest of "Israel's" indiscriminate bombing of Gaza.
The demonstration was organized by the group Jewish Voice for Peace-New York City, where protesters held up banners reading, "Palestinians should be free" and "Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living."
Organizers called the peaceful sit-in "the largest civil disobedience New York City has seen in 20 years."
In a statement by organizers, Rabbi May Ye said, "While Shabbat is typically a day of rest, we cannot afford to rest while genocide is unfolding in our names."
