Columbia pro-Palestine protesters face deadline to clear out: What’s next?
Al Jazeera
Demonstrators ordered to dismantle encampments on campus by 8am and warned of ‘alternative options’.
Columbia University has told students protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza to clear their campus encampments by 8am (12:00 GMT) on Wednesday, with no agreement reached between the Ivy League institution and the organisers.
As Columbia students marked the seventh day of their Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Tuesday despite a wave of arrests and suspensions of protesters, they initially faced a deadline from university President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik until midnight to reach negotiations to dismantle the encampments. Shafik made clear that if the discussions were unsuccessful then “we will have to consider alternative options for clearing” the area.
But that deadline passed without news of an agreement until word of an extension of several hours circulated on campus. So, the standoff continues.
Pro-Palestine protests have roiled university campuses in the United States from coast to coast. But Columbia has been the heart of the solidarity movement as the Gaza death toll spirals to more than 34,000 people – mainly children and women – killed since the conflict erupted on October 7.
