Anti-Israel protesters return to Columbia University's campus lawn area
Students at Columbia University returned to the campus’ lawn area on Friday morning to continue their anti-Israel protests. (FNTV)
Unfazed by Thursday’s mass arrests, protests continued at Columbia University on Friday and a large police presence — with officers in riot gear — was reported.
Demonstrators, including activist actress Susan Sarandon, marched through the streets to the university, chanting with signs and flags.
Protesters could be heard chanting: "NYPD KKK. NYPD we know you. You're Israeli trained too!" and "Palestine will be free!"
Another protester was captured on video uploaded to social media shouting, "We are Hamas! … We are all Hamas, pig!" while another could be heard calling, "Long live Hamas!"
JEWISH COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDENT TOLD TO ‘KILL YOURSELF’ DURING ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST: REPORT
In response to Fox News asking about protesters shouting "We are Hamas," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that "And no president has taken more action to combat antisemitism than this president."
"This is a president that has been since he's been in office, and the reason why he ran has been very clear about what he witnessed in Charlottesville," Jean-Pierre said.
"Let's not forget what we saw, the antisemitism, the bigotry, the hate that we saw in the street of Charlottesville, which as I just stated, was one of the reasons that he decided to run. And no president has taken more action to combat antisemitism than this president."
She added, "in our national strategy, we made clear that when Jews are targeted because of their beliefs, because of their identity, or when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hate, hatred, that is antisemitism, and that is completely, completely unacceptable."
ILHAN OMAR'S DAUGHTER SUSPENDED FROM COLLEGE AMID ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVISM
NYPD officers patrol as pro-Palestine protesters demonstrate outside of Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the campus’ lawn. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
Accuracy in Media's President Adam Guillette told Fox News Digital Friday: "[Columbia University President] Minouche Shafik has failed time and again to protect Jewish students on campus and hold antisemitic students and faculty accountable."
He added, "During Wednesday’s hearing, Shafik made a number of empty promises and insincere statements about the state of antisemitism on Columbia’s campus. Just one day later, radical antisemites continued to terrorize Jewish students on campus and spew their hateful ideology. The last 48 hours have made it abundantly clear that Shafik is not fit to serve as Columbia President."
On Friday, Sarandon told students: "I am not a student, I am not Palestinian, but I am here to support the students who understand that it is very important to have their voices heard."
"Especially in a place of education and supposedly higher thoughts, to be attacked with racism and intolerance is not acceptable. There are many, many people who stand with you."
"You must know that you inspire so many people who are afraid… you give me hope… and in the end the truth will win."
Pro-Palestine protestors demonstrate outside of Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the campus’ lawn. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
The march was heading south bound and had earlier paused in front of the 28th Police Precinct, and then turned west on 123rd Street. Protesters blocked traffic and the NYPD instructed them to move onto the sidewalk.
They then stopped at 116th Street and Broadway at the university.
Earlier in the day, protesters returned to the campus’ lawn area to continue their anti-Israel protest and claim they will "hold this line" until their demands are met.
Video shows dozens of people, many donning black-and-white keffiyeh headscarves and COVID-19 masks, planted down on sheets and sleeping bags on a lawn adjacent to where yesterday’s fiery protests took place.
NYPD officers patrol as pro-Palestine protestors demonstrate outside of Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the campus’ lawn. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
A large banner with the words "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" marked their territory and several Palestinian flags were flying throughout their occupied zone.
The mood was a lot quieter than Thursday and piles of food and drinks could be seen in the center of the encampment, indicating the protesters were there for the long haul. Unlike yesterday, there are no tents and those involved say on social media they've been told they can remain on the lawn as long as no tents are pitched.
Friday afternoon, a man on a bullhorn told at the encampment said that he had been one of the protesters arrested on Thursday.
Students at Columbia University returned to the campus’ lawn area on Friday morning to continue their anti-Israel protest and say they will "hold this line" until their demands are met.
"Your organizers are returning, I ask you to please hold this line and to continue to bring people out in support of Palestine to get our demands," a protester, holding a Dunkin’ Donuts cup, railed into a bullhorn.
"The more they try to silence us the louder we will be," he began chanting, as others joined in. He then broke into a trade union-inspired song called "Rich Man’s House," singing: "So I went down the rich man’s house and I stole what he took with me."
ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS OCCUPY COLUMBIA CAMPUS AS UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT FACES GRILLING FROM CONGRESS
Pro-Palestine protesters demonstrate outside of Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the campus’ lawn. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
The demonstrators say they are protesting Columbia University’s continued "financial investment in corporations that profit from Israel apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine."
They are calling for the university to make public all of its financial investments, no further arrests and the dropping of charges for all students disciplined for their involvement in the protests.
In total, 108 people were arrested and given a summons for trespassing, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said during a Thursday press conference, including the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. Two people were additionally given a summons for obstruction of governmental administration.
Omar on Friday said she was "proud" of her daughter.
"I am enormously proud of my daughter @israhirsi," Omar wrote on X.
"She has always led with courage and compassion, from organizing a statewide school walk out on the 20th anniversary of Columbine at the age of 15, to leading the biggest youth climate rally at our nation’s Capitol at 16, and now pushing her school to stand against genocide."
A Columbia University spokesperson told Fox News: "While the encampment has been dismantled, our community has had protest activity on campus since October, and we expect that activity to continue."
The spokesperson continued, "We have rules regarding the time, place, and manner that apply to protest activity and we will continue to enforce those. We remain in regular contact with our students and student groups and are committed to ensuring the core functions of the University continue."
Students at Columbia University returned to the campus’ lawn area on Friday morning to continue their anti-Israel protest and say they will "hold this line" until their demands are met. (FNTV)
The NYPD was invited to the university by school President Minouche Shafik on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Shafik sent a message to the student body, saying that these "extraordinary steps" were necessary "because these are extraordinary circumstances" and that the protesters had "violated a long list of rules and policies."
The police operation was the first mass arrests to be made on the Columbia campus since 1968, when hundreds of students occupied Hamilton Hall in protest of the Vietnam War and the planned construction of a gymnasium in Morningside Park were detained, the Columbia Spector reported.
Like many Ivy League college campuses, Columbia University has seen numerous pro-Palestinian protests sprout since Oct. 7. The demonstrations have gotten more intense as Israel continues to conduct its military offensive in the Gaza Strip against Hamas.
Fox News’ CB Cotton, Stephen Sorace and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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