{"id":2235836,"date":"2024-05-02T17:13:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T21:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/columbia-student-groups-hold-autonomous-rally-outside-campus-project-escalate-for-gaza-message-on-hamilton-hall\/"},"modified":"2024-05-02T17:16:28","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T21:16:28","slug":"columbia-student-groups-hold-autonomous-rally-outside-campus-project-escalate-for-gaza-message-on-hamilton-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/columbia-student-groups-hold-autonomous-rally-outside-campus-project-escalate-for-gaza-message-on-hamilton-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbia Student Groups Host Independent Rally at Hamilton Hall, Advocate &#8216;Escalate for Gaza&#8217; Message"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcolumbia-student-groups-hold-autonomous-rally-outside-campus-project-escalate-for-gaza-message-on-hamilton-hall%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2235836&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Columbia \u200cUniversity&#8217;s\u200b &#8220;Gaza Solidarity&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/college-campus-anti-semitism-finally-rears-its-ugly-head\/\" title=\"College campuses now confront the emergence of anti-Semitism.\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/college-scales-back-bias-response-teams-after-legal-challenge\/\" title=\"College Scales Back \u2018Bias Response\u2019 Teams After Legal Challenge\">student groups<\/a> organized<\/a>\u200d an off-campus rally projecting &#8220;Escalate\u200d for Gaza&#8221; at Hamilton Hall. Protesters chanted for Palestine, vowing to continue defying authorities. The demonstration, despite police interventions, signals ongoing student resistance. Statements \u2063from student groups pledge to\u200c persist\u200d in the fight\u200b for Palestinian liberation. The event, supported by an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/education-group-reveres-black-panther-party-in-new-lesson-plan\/\" title=\"Education Group Reveres Black Panther Party In New Lesson Plan\">activist organization<\/a>, highlights a broader movement for\u200d justice.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<h2>&#8216;The student intifada will live on,&#8217; says the Columbia SJP<\/h2>\n<figure><figcaption> \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t(Alex Kent\/Getty Images)\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Columbia University student groups behind the &#8220;Gaza Solidarity&#8221; encampment held what they called an &#8220;autonomous rally&#8221; outside campus, where they projected the words &#8220;Escalate for Gaza&#8221; on the side of Hamilton Hall, the building protesters stormed and occupied earlier in the week.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Palestine Organizers&#8221; from Columbia and City University of New York held a Wednesday night <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C6cEfpJuI3D\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">press conference<\/a> outside of CUNY&#8217;s campus, where they shared their &#8220;experiences&#8221; from the police sweeps that occurred on both campuses roughly 24 hours prior.<\/p>\n<p>Protesters then traveled a mile down Amsterdam Avenue to Columbia&#8217;s campus, where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C6c2EoHNPkW\/?img_index=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">keffiyeh-clad<\/a> individuals <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/C6cwKgdNYAq\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lit flares<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/C6cidYqNacR\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">waved Palestinian flags<\/a>, and chanted &#8220;Gaza&#8221; and &#8220;free, free, free Palestine.&#8221; One attendee was filmed holding a sign that read, &#8220;Resistance by any means necessary.&#8221; Later on in the evening, protesters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C6cvCjvNhjs\/?img_index=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">projected images<\/a> onto the side of Columbia Hall, reading, &#8220;Escalate for Gaza,&#8221; &#8220;Israel bombs Columbia pays,&#8221; and &#8220;Columbia funds genocide.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The demonstration shows that Columbia president Minouche Shafik&#8217;s battle with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-delegation-arrives-at-columbia-to-call-for-shafiks-resignation\/\" title=\"GOP Delegation Arrives in Columbia to Demand Shafik's Resignation\">unauthorized student protesters<\/a> is far from over, even after Shafik <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/police-sweep-columbias-campus-arrest-students-who-seized-university-building\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deployed New York City police<\/a> to break up the &#8220;Gaza Solidarity&#8221; encampment and to remove those who seized and occupied Hamilton Hall.<\/p>\n<p>The morning after Tuesday night&#8217;s sweep, Columbia University Apartheid Divest issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C6cEMsrucN8\/?img_index=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> pledging to come back &#8220;stronger, smarter, and better prepared to stand our ground&#8221; and to &#8220;continue building a student movement that will take back our campuses.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our people arrested today will soon be free and ready to fight again with even greater insight into the oppressor&#8217;s tools and weaknesses,&#8221; the group wrote. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C6bSTkguJzo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">similar statement<\/a>, which called to continue &#8220;the struggle for Palestinian liberation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The student intifada will live on,&#8221; the statement said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Both groups were behind the &#8220;Gaza Solidarity&#8221; encampment that plagued the school for roughly two weeks. They were also behind the Wednesday night rally.<\/p>\n<p>Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The student groups had help in <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/WOLPalestine\/status\/1785768056502755584\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">organizing the rally<\/a> from Within Our Lifetime, the anti-Semitic activist organization based in New York City that was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/instagram-removes-accounts-for-leading-nyc-pro-palestinian-group-within-our-lifetime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">banned from Instagram<\/a> over posts that lauded terrorism against Jews.<\/p>\n<p>Within Our Lifetime <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/WOLPalestine\/status\/1785768056502755584\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">promoted the rally<\/a> on X, formerly Twitter, sharing a flyer with the event&#8217;s details under the caption &#8220;ALL OUT TONIGHT FOR CUNY &#038; COLUMBIA.&#8221; Footage from the rally also shows Within Our Lifetime organizer and Harvard University graduate student Abdullah Akl leading chants.<\/p>\n<p>During a Palestinian &#8220;Land Day&#8221; protest in New York City last month, Akl <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/harvard-grad-student-calls-on-hamas-to-strike-tel-aviv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">led a chant<\/a> to &#8220;strike, strike Tel Aviv. Abu Obeida, our beloved.&#8221; Obeida, a Hamas terrorist, is the spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military wing that led the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Akl has also used his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sickening-video-shows-antifa-allegedly-stab-4-trump-supporters-in-washington-dc\/\" title=\"Sickening Video Shows Antifa Allegedly Stab 4 Trump Supporters in Washington DC\">social media accounts<\/a> to call for &#8220;intifada&#8221; against Jews, contend that &#8220;there is no state called Israel,&#8221; and encourage his followers to &#8220;teach your children that the Zionist entity is an enemy,&#8221; the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> reported in January.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Akl, Columbia University Apartheid Divest has long collaborated with Within Our Lifetime&#8217;s founder, Nerdeen Kiswani.<\/p>\n<p>Kiswani was one of three featured speakers at the <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/at-columbia-an-israeli-designated-terror-group-teaches-palestinian-resistance-101-and-lauds-plane-hijackings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">infamous &#8220;Palestinian Resistance 101&#8221; event <\/a>held on Columbia&#8217;s campus in March. Kiswani and other speakers routinely called for violence against Jews and praised Hamas and Hezbollah. At one point, Kiswani urged students to openly laud Oct. 7 and Palestinian &#8220;resistance,&#8221; even as she acknowledged that Hamas is &#8220;considered a terrorist organization.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t acquiesce to the idea [of], well, &#8216;Oh, they&#8217;re considered a terrorist organization, so we shouldn&#8217;t talk about resistance,&#8221; Kiswani said. &#8220;We&#8217;re kind of like the test subjects or the guinea pigs. We&#8217;re going to put ourselves out on the line, and you know, if people are okay with it, then they&#8217;ll jump on it later.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have the right to return home,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and we will get that right by any means necessary.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Columbia banned Kiswani from campus over her participation in the event. Weeks later, however, she made it through the university gates to give a speech to student protesters in the Columbia encampment.<\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Columbia University right now: Within Our Lifetime organizer Nerdeen Kiswani has somehow made it onto campus and is encouraging students to keep going. <\/p>\n<p>If campus is restricted to CU ID holders, how on earth did she get on campus? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Columbia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Columbia<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EdWorkforceCmte?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@EdWorkforceCmte<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gb8765EcO6\">pic.twitter.com\/gb8765EcO6<\/a>\t<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Eden Yadegar (@edenyadegar) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/edenyadegar\/status\/1781905099138224289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 21, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Columbia SJP declares, &#8220;The student intifada will endure.&#8221; Columbia University student groups, organizers of the &#8220;Gaza Solidarity&#8221; encampment, organized an off-campus &#8220;autonomous rally.&#8221; They displayed &#8220;Escalate for Gaza&#8221; on Hamilton Hall, the site of their previous occupation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":2235837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/protestors-from-cuny-and-columbia-rally-one-day-after-police-break-up-scaled-e1714677129473.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2235836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/protestors-from-cuny-and-columbia-rally-one-day-after-police-break-up-scaled-e1714677129473.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2235836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2235837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2235836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2235836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2235836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}