- Why do you think
these encampments
cause such an intense response
from some of the most
powerful people in the world?
[stringed music]
[crowd jeering]
- Thank you all for
being here today.
We have several
members of Congress here.
Throughout history,
Columbia students
have contributed
to the great storybook of
America's life and thought.
The cherished
traditions of this university
are being overtaken right now
by radical and extreme ideology.
Anti-Israel encampments
are popping up
at universities all
across this country.
[jeering continues]
- We're here to
discuss the Little Gazas
that have risen up on
campuses across America.
These Little Gazas
are disgusting cesspools
of antisemitic hate,
full of pro-Hamas sympathizers,
fanatics, and freaks.
- There was a very
concerted effort
on behalf of
members of the media
to portray things a certain
way and refuse to discuss Gaza.
- They see something on TikTok
and they're like, "Israel
bad and Hamas good."
- Can you believe they are
chanting about the infantada
in New York City?
- I really believe
they are brainwashed.
- I mean, this is literally like
a demonstration in Tehran.
- This is terrorism.
The w*r on terror has
gotten to U.S. campuses.
[stringed music]
- The universities
are materially invested
in the genocide in Gaza.
Through their
connections to companies
that manufacture the weapons
or that operate illegally
throughout Occupied Palestine.
We don't want our money to
go towards Palestinian death.
[stringed music]
[traffic sounds]
There weren't a lot of
human rights programs
in the United States.
Columbia University
had the best.
It had a good name.
And not only that, it was a
home to a lot of scholarship
that I looked up to that I
thought I would benefit from.
I started at Columbia University
and almost
immediately afterwards,
October 7 happened.
Then I didn't really
have time to think about
how I would be involved in
the Palestinian movement.
I just had to be involved.
The other option was to
be paralyzed and depressed.
[distant siren wailing]
- Before October 7th,
the university was cracking down
on Palestinian
activism on campus.
They pushed a certain narrative,
a narrative that's
supporting Israel,
that's vilifying
the Palestinians.
And October 7th just
gave them more opportunity
to crack down more
and more on us.
[stun dents chanting]
- "Students for
Justice in Palestine"
and "Jewish Voice for
Peace", which are the main
forces organizing
amongst undergraduates
for justice in Palestine
ended up being banned
because of the university saying
that they had violated
certain campus policies
around demonstration.
- I am a Jewish
student here to say,
when Columbia
speaks of Jewish safety,
it seems that they only mean
to protect Jewish students
who support Israel or
are silent in their dissent.
[crowd cheering]
In this suspension, Columbia
has made it very clear that
they don't care about their
students nor their speech.
The only thing they care
about protecting right now
is their pocketbook.
[crowd cheering]
- The endowment of
Columbia is roughly $14 billion.
Columbia has an
investment company
which manages where
those investments go.
Around 90 percent, if not
more, are indirect investments.
So they're stocks
or they're held in
companies like BlackRock.
And students have no
access to what those are
or are denied access
based on their viewpoint,
even though the university
says that that isn't the case.
We do know that
Columbia University
has investments in
like, General Electric,
has ties to Lockheed Martin
and other companies that
either produce weapons or
produce information technology
for the occupation army.
The priority demand
was divestment.
Underneath divestment
was the boycott demand
and disclosure.
Divestment is not difficult.
The university has
divested from private prisons.
The university also
divested from Russia
following the
invasion of Ukraine.
But of course,
nobody paid attention
because it's exactly in line
with U.S.
geopolitical interests.
- The bigger the endowment,
the more you are
beholden to your donors.
To break with Israel would make
a lot of these donors very mad.
- The board of trustees
make the important decisions
about the direction
of the university.
They get the final say on
whether a divestment happens.
People on the board of trustees
are people like Jeh Johnson
who is simultaneously
on the board of trustees
of Lockheed Martin.
If you're on the
board of trustees of
a weapons manufacturer,
then you care that that weapons
manufacturer makes profit.
You care that there is
w*r enough, death enough,
k*lling enough that you
can use your weapons.
The genocide didn't
start on October 7th.
Neither did the pro-Palestine
movement generally on campus.
Students had already pushed
like divestment referendums
in previous years.
We had voted on
divestment referendums
at various colleges
within Columbia.
All of them passed.
[students cheering]
- Immediately, the president
sent out an email saying
we don't have actual general
consensus amongst the student
body or amongst our community
in which they include in the
community the Columbia alumni.
Free, free Palestine!
- Free, free Palestine!
- Free, free, free Palestine!
- Free, free, free Palestine!
- What do we want?
- Justice!
- When do we want it?
- Now!
- We had done everything
we could think of.
We did peaceful
protest that was ignored.
We did strategic interruptions.
That was ignored and punished.
Students had written up this
whole divestment proposal
saying that it is not only
possible but would be easy.
And that was just
dismissed out of hand.
- They changed
all the protest rules.
They wouldn't approve
any of our events.
They would just
criminalize anyone
who would
participate in a protest.
- If they were just
going to ignore us
then we had to do something
that couldn't possibly
be ignored by
the administration.
[pensive music]
The first hours in
the encampment
were just so peaceful.
It was almost anticlimactic.
It felt like they were just
completely taken by surprise.
- That day, April 17,
was Columbia's
president Minouche Shafik
her congressional
hearing on antisemitism.
It was also less than a
month away from graduation.
So there were a lot
of pressure points
that the students
had considered.
- It really felt like a win
insofar as it had sort of
interrupted the normal
functionings of the university.
And they were on their back foot
in terms of what they
could do to stop us.
- What is this saying?
- You can read it.
Here you go.
- I thought you might
provide some more information
since you're walking
up to the encampment.
- Oh!
- The information is all here.
And this is exactly what
was said to you earlier.
- So could you
perhaps explain why
we're being subject
to interim suspension
for a violation of
demonstration policy
for which the stated
punishment is a written warning?
- So everything is
stated in the letter for you.
So I'm going to
encourage you to read it.
- You actually don't cite any
of the rules by how they appear.
- I'm just going to encourage
you to read the letters, okay?
- So then who do we speak with
to get the answers
to these questions?
- So earlier I was here
and I encouraged you all
to come talk with
me at any time.
So I'm happy to have
that conversation now.
- Well you are here with us,
why don't we have a conversation
We can have a conversation
to the side if you'd like to.
Excuse me, I'm eating a mint.
- Why do you need to
hide it from the students
that you're threatening
with suspension?
- This is not a threat.
We're giving you a letter that's
providing some information.
- Grant, what does that say?
- So basically...
Here... you want to...
Basically it's telling
us to disperse.
That we have an
unauthorized encampment
and disruption on
Columbia's campus.
So basically they're telling
everybody that there's
going to be an interim
measure of suspending us.
Now, they're accusing
us of violating a policy
for which the punishment
is a written warning
on your first offense.
- All we are doing
here is practicing our
First Amendment right
in what the university
has designated "The
protest zone" on campus.
So the idea that any of us
could be interim suspended,
which requires a
danger to the community,
specifically in the
code of conduct,
a physical danger to
the community, is absurd.
[students jeering]
People are singing songs
and grieving and protesting
because it's our loved ones
in Palestine that are dying.
- r*pe is not resistance.
r*pe is not resistance.
- Shame!
- r*pe is not resistance.
- Free, free, free Palestine.
- Free, free, free Palestine.
- r*pe is not resistance.
- Free, free, free Palestine.
- r*pe is not resistance.
- We're here for the Gazans,
the Palestinians who are
dying right now as we speak.
Because Gaza is burning.
And we hold the
privilege in our hands.
So don't forget it for a second.
And don't let any
of those people,
don't let any of
these administrators
tell you otherwise.
Don't let public safety
or NYPD fear monger you
or intimidate you
or silence you.
We will not be silenced!
- Israel has destroyed every
single university in Gaza.
[expl*si*n]
[soldier yelling]
[Israeli Soldier]
People, get down.
[soldier yelling]
[Israeli Soldier] Happy
Hanukkah to the State of Israel.
[expl*si*n]
[distant explosions]
- The most important weapon
for any nation is its conscious,
educated youth
that will eventually build it.
Israel targets schools
and universities,
cultural centers
and institutions,
theaters, and libraries.
Because any nation's most
important weapon is education.
What Israel did to us
since the 7th of October?
Israel destroyed us.
There is nothing left in Gaza.
- The international
court of justice
accepted South Africa's claims
that this was
plausibly a genocide
and ordered Israel to
stop all genocidal acts.
An order that it has destroyed.
- No armed attack
on a state territory,
no matter how serious.
Even an attack
involving atrocity crimes
can provide any justification
for breaches to the Convention.
Israel's response to the
7th of October 2023 attack
has crossed this line.
I think there are
people in Israel
for whom genocide is a plan.
They think that if they
inflict enough suffering
on Palestinians in
Gaza, enough death,
that the Palestinians
will leave and depart,
and the land will be
finally clear of them,
and Israel can take it over.
- We came here with
one clear purpose.
The purpose is to settle
the entire Gaza Strip.
- They don't care
about their homes,
They don't care
about their deaths,
they don't care about
anything but the land.
- I don't have mercy
on these Gazans.
I don't think that there is
anyone in the state of Israel,
in greater Israel,
that should have
mercy on these Gazans.
not on the elderly,
not on the young,
and not on the children.
- Gaza, Gaza,
Gaza is a cemetery!
Theres no school in Gaza,
because there are no
children left in Gaza!
- Israel has
traumatized us, forever.
- If you can enter the
camp, please join us.
We need you to
pull out your phone
- We need you to
pull out your phone.
- And call every
m*therf*cker on this campus.
- And call every
m*therf*cker on this campus!
The NYPD...
- Is right at the gates,
- Is right at the gates,
- in riot gear, - in riot gear,
- trying to sweep
the encampment.
- Trying to sweep
the encampment.
- The entire encampment
- The entire encampment
- voted unanimously
- voted unanimously
- that we will not leave.
- that we will not leave.
- until we win - until we win
- all of our demands.
- all of our demands.
[crowd cheering]
- They want to wear us out.
They want to depend
on us going home.
They want to depend
on us giving up.
But that will not happen!
[crowd cheering]
The only weapon
they have is fear
and when we call their
m*therf*cking bluff,
they have nothing!
[crowd cheering]
Hope is a discipline!
Hope is our most
powerful weapon.
With Palestine in our hearts
there is nothing
that can stop us!
For Gaza!
For Palestine!
With love!
[crowd cheering]
- This once prestigious
university's reputation
is just going down the toilet
because of all of the...
antisemitism that's
flourishing on campus.
- I think one of the
excellent recommendations
of our antisemitism task force
is that they have said that...
if you are going to chant,
it should only be
in a certain place,
so people who
don't want to hear it
are protected from
having to hear it.
- When mobs or
people are shouting,
"From the river to the
sea, Palestine must be free"
or "Long live the
Infintada [Intifada]",
are those antisemitic
statements?
Yes or no? It's not
how you feel, it's...
- I hear them as such,
some people don't.
- We have sent a clear message...
- So is that yes?
So is that yes?
That is antisemitic
behavior, and you should be...
There should be
some consequences to
that antisemitic behavior.
We're in agreement, yes?
- Yes.
- Thank you.
I yield my time.
- We are prepared
to bring you back
if we don't see more
tangible progress.
[pensive music]
[crowd jeering]
- Disclose, divest, we will
not stop we will not rest!
Disclose, divest,
we will not stop--
The people united
will never be defeated!
The people united
will never be defeated!
- Step outside.
- Shame on you!
Shame!
Shame on you!
[tense music]
- Let them go. Let them go.
Let them go.
- Peter! Stay strong!
Love you, Peter!
Isabelle! Love you!
- There was a lot of
confusion in the moment.
I didn't really know what to do
except make sure
that we had evidence.
[crowd chanting]
- Mic check.
- Mic check.
- They just arrested
our first group.
- They just arrested
our first group.
- We have countless people
prepared to take their place
in the encampment.
- We have countless people
prepared to take their place...
- Taking the other lawn!
Move!
- Let's go.
- Move!
Let's go!
Disclose, divest!
We will not rest!
We will not stop!
Disclose, divest!
- We will not stop.
We will not rest.
Disclose, divest!
- Disclose, divest!
Move!
Move!
Move!
- We will not stop!
We will not rest!
Disclose, divest!
Disclose, divest!
We will not stop!
We will not rest!
Disclose, divest!
We will not stop!
We will not rest!
Disclose, divest!
We will not stop!
We will not rest!
Free, free Palestine!
Free, free Palestine!
- All of our main organizers
had been arrested
and there really wasn't enough
people to fill in the space.
- When the second
encampment did begin,
it began with community
members who we didn't know
and they didn't really
know us very well.
The presence of the community
was really what allowed
for the longevity
of the encampment.
- Divestment right now!
- Divestment right now!
- We want justice, you say how!
- We want justice, you say how!
- Disclose, divest!
We will not stop!
We will not rest!
Disclose, divest!
We will not stop!
We will not rest!
Disclose, divest!
We will not stop!
We will not rest!
Disclose, divest!
- I found myself in
Palestine for some time
and that led to, I think,
my further politicization.
I was all throughout
the West Bank,
so I was actually based
in Al-Khalil, Hebron,
but I had the opportunity to
travel throughout Jerusalem,
Jenin, Nablus.
The thing that hurt me most
was how constrained
life is under occupation.
The conditions of life
create just perpetual
squashing of people.
I had friends who were born
and raised in parts of Hebron
that are currently
occupied by settlers
who have witnessed their closest
family members being m*rder*d.
- [Israeli soldier] Who? Who?
[Israeli soldier]
Don't talk to me!
[Israeli soldier] Move! Move!
[Israeli soldier] Stop!
Stop! I'll f*ck you up!
- Whose parents fear for them
knowing that they're
in vicinity to settlers.
Who haven't been
able to visit Jerusalem.
Who haven't been
able to see Al-Aqsa,
which is so, so important
to Palestinian people,
despite the fact that
tourists like myself
can visit whenever we wish.
I left with a lot of
messages from friends
that I had made in Palestine
who asked to not be forgotten.
- [Palestinian] Aren't you
ashamed you criminals?
Criminal soldiers.
Aren't you ashamed?
- [Israeli soldier] Get
inside please, sweetie.
Great, thanks.
- [Palestinian] Aren't you
ashamed? Aren't you ashamed?
- We have tried to
come to a middle ground
with the administration
to protect the safety
of the students,
to prevent the NYPD
from coming onto campus,
yet the university
refused to do that.
[distant cheering]
- We were in One Police Plaza,
which is where they put
all the people arrested
for protest violations.
[crowd cheering]
There was all these
reporters swarming around.
We were like, wow,
well hey, we did the thing,
we got a great image.
This was a really
powerful protest.
And I remember my
arresting officer came out,
he was like, you know,
"Free my man, free my man."
It's like, you're a police
officer, you can't say
"Free my man" if you're
the person who arrested me.
But he's like, "Hey, you
did a good thing, young man,
like, you're famous now."
I had no idea what this
guy was talking about.
I was like, was this big news?
Did something big happen?
- Pro-Palestinian protests are
spreading at college campuses
in the United States
and around the globe.
- I was seeing all these
other encampments
just popping off
around the country.
I felt tremendously proud,
but also quite anxious
that we had been given
this very historical task
to try to advance the
struggle in some small way,
but significant way.
When we were all in jail,
I don't think any of us really
could have imagined the scope.
- People really
wanted to know, like,
how they could get
things up and running,
and how they could
start an encampment.
- It resonated a lot
with the students
because I think it gave them
a really concrete and
direct way to place pressure
in order to advance
the Palestinian struggle.
The student movement
really breathed life back
into the larger
movement for Palestine.
- The student
intifada continues!
We are undeterred!
We do everything
we do for Palestine
with Gaza at the heart!
[crowd cheering]
- After six months of mass
protests and organizing,
it was this encampment
at Columbia
that changed the whole terrain.
I think that is for
several reasons.
The media loves
talking about campuses.
How could students at
an Ivy League college
be arrested on their own campus?
On the other side, their parents
work in CNN or work at Fox News
or work at the U .N. or
the State Department.
This is the future generation,
and the future
generation is risking
arrest, suspension,
expulsion for Palestine.
They were terrified about
what these encampments
represented for the
future of this country.
- This is virtue signaling
for white, woke kids
that have no idea what
they're talking about.
- Young people are being
influenced by those who
are professional at
radicalizing our children.
- People that are aggressive,
that are spewing hate.
- It is raw hatred towards Jews.
- Antisemitic mobs have
taken over leading universities.
This is reminiscent
of what happened in
German universities
in the 1930's.
- We are not an
authoritarian nation
where we silence
people or squash dissent
but order must prevail.
- Those individuals need
to be deported immediately.
- There is an appropriate
time for the National Guard.
- This may be Bidden's Vietnam.
- But the sad part about it is,
if the numbers are changing,
they're having an impact.
- Bravery is very contagious.
We kind of watched
Columbia in awe.
And we knew we were next.
[students chanting]
- No one expected it
to be as big as it was.
And it got big fast.
The sheer joy of
community that I felt.
For the first time since
October 7th, I felt so happy.
Knowing that Columbia
is in an encampment,
and Georgia State
is in an encampment,
and San Diego State
is an encampment.
And feeling that every
university came together
to say this is wrong,
and we're going to
sit here until it's fixed.
I remember feeling
very happy to see that...
a lot of the students
were not Palestinian.
And it was very inspiring.
It kind of gave me the kick
that I needed to keep going.
To see how many people
in there were saying,
"I just learned about this,
I'm sorry, but I'm here."
There is hope.
[crowd chanting]
- We got Yale holding it
down right now, on live!
Make some noise!
[crowd cheering]
And as they continue
their encampment,
we will continue as well.
So be loud!
- All can be louder, let's go!
- Disclose, divest!
We will not stop!
We will not rest!
Disclose, divest!
We will not stop!
We will not rest!
Disclose, divest!
We will not stop!
We will not rest...
[drumming]
- I don't--
How are you saying something,
and then you do
something different?
There you go.
- Yeah thats what I just did.
- No thats not what you did.
- Oh, ok stop,
I did it too fast.
[singing]
- There was a proposal made
that the negotiation be
shared at assembly every day.
Raise your hand if
you are in favor of that.
Beautiful, so we will be
doing that going forward.
Thank you.
- Sueda and I,
every day we spend
hours with the administration
negotiating on your behalf.
To get our demands.
[crowd cheering]
I was approached the
night of the encampment
that I would be the
person communicating
with the administration.
The organizers trusted
me, given my background,
in terms of like
working in diplomacy,
either at the British
Embassy or here at the UN.
We discussed who's
best to support me
and we felt that Sueda
is the perfect person.
- The university wanted to
shut down the encampment
in any way that it could.
When it first started
they were like,
let's not let them
bring in water.
Let's shut down
all of the gates.
Let's not let them
bring in tents.
Let's not let them
bring in blankets.
Because it was
cold, it was freezing.
- They underestimated
the will of the students.
They literally like feel
that these are just kids.
Through my conversation
I just felt how much
the university is
detached from reality.
What university in the world
want to invest in
weapon manufacturers?
Why would you do that?
You're concerned with education.
Like we're literally giving
you back the university
to be a moral university.
Every time in the negotiations
when we told them that,
they would say like,
"Oh, you're overestimating
your power or your influence."
But then after the fourth day...
they were just like so silent.
Because clearly it's
a global movement.
I remember like telling
him like at this point
there are 60 universities
setting up encampments
across the United States.
They're just like
waiting to hear
what would happen at Columbia.
They were like,
this is our deal.
You have until 12 a.m.
If you don't take the
deal, the National Guard
or the police would come in.
We left the negotiations.
We were like just managing
what we want to do.
I verified with a couple
of congress people
and they said it's
an empty threat.
We called the governor.
The governor said
there's no intention
of sending any National Guard.
We called their bluff.
- Not at any moment
we are trusting
the administration
even when they are
conceding to our demands.
[crowd cheering]
[students chanting]
- Get in the pen or
you're gonna get arrested.
You're blocking the...
- NYPD, we know you!
- NYPD, we know you!
- You're Israeli-trained, too!
- You're Israeli-trained, too!
- Let's keep it up!
They can't stop us!
We're here for the
students! Let's go!
- In the first few days of
the Columbia encampment,
I think I was outside there
maybe 20 out of 24 hours a day,
keeping up the chanting,
keeping up the energy,
so that the students would
always feel our presence
and always feel
strengthened by it.
What happens on the campuses?
- What happens on the campuses?
- Is visible to
the entire world!
- Is visible to
the entire world!
- So let's raise our voices!
- So let's raise our voices!
- Keep our spirits high!
- Keep our spirits high!
- And chant for
a free Palestine!
- And chant for
a free Palestine!
[chanting continues]
- So thank you all
for being here with us!
Standing strong with us!
Chanting with us!
Demanding divestment with us!
Demanding amnesty with us!
Demanding freedom
for Palestine with us!
- There were
all-day, all-night rallies
outside the gates of Columbia
making sure the
encampments exist for longer,
that they could reach more
of their political demands,
and it helped get food
into the encampment,
it helped get supplies
into the encampment,
but most importantly, it
amplified what was happening.
In many ways also sent a
message to the students.
You're not alone, the movement
is not going to abandon you.
- Shut it down! Shut it down!
Shut it down! Shut it down!
Shut it down! Shut it down!
Shut it down! Shut it down!
- When the first
arrests were made,
me and my friends came
to the second encampment
that was set up,
after running a picket around
the students who
started to first collect
and when it was time
to go to sleep that night,
I found myself
feeling so anxious
and unable to rest,
knowing that there was
work to be done, I guess,
and so I came to the supply tarp
and have basically been
working there ever since.
Alumni have donated so much.
Restaurants in the area
have donated so much,
to the point where we have
an abundance of food and
supplies that we are redirecting
to organizations in Harlem
and also other
encampments in New York.
[woman singing]
Roti roll, these ones
are chicken makhani.
Do you eat chicken?
- I do, maybe I'll come back.
- Yeah, come back.
- Mic check!
- Mic check!
- If everyone could
please gather around
for today's updates
coming out of Gaza.
The civil defense announces
that the number of recovered bodies
at Nasser Hospital as
mass graves as a result
of the barbaric Zionist
siege on the hospital
and indiscriminate k*lling of
men and women and children
has risen to 342
martyrs just today.
A community member
here who's already lost tens
of family members in Gaza
lost another one last night
to the most recent air strike.
So I just want to
remind everyone
that what's happening in Gaza
is not far removed
from us whatsoever.
- I was born and raised in...
a Palestinian refugee camp
in southern Damascus in Syria.
My family's history in
Palestine actually goes back to...
as long as my
grandparent could trace it.
They lived in a very small
village right next to Tiberias.
Mostly they were farmers.
My grandmother,
she used to tell us that
she had Jewish neighbors.
They would share a piece of
land where they would farm it.
Tiberias was one
of the first cities
that the Zionists targeted in
1948 with ethnic cleansing.
In April 1948,
a month before the Nakba,
the Zionist militias, they
burned one of their villages.
When they heard
the news about it,
they had to leave immediately.
Some of the men went to fight.
Big families, they
had to go to Syria.
My grandmother, she
was pregnant at that time.
She had to walk 40 miles.
She gave birth on the way.
When they arrived
in the refugee camp,
they thought it's
just a matter of days
until they would go back.
They did not want to be k*lled
because they heard
about the horror stories
across Tiberias.
My dad was born in a tent.
His family lived in that
tent until like mid-70s
when they upgraded
to small structures.
In the 90s,
they finally kind of like
had concrete buildings.
To us, it was always
a temporary home
until we go back to Palestine.
That's why very few families
actually invested
in their houses.
Not necessarily because
they don't have the means,
but because investing
more in these houses
means that they
may forget Palestine.
My parents, they've
never been to Palestine.
They live in Germany.
They are trying to
learn the language
just to get the citizenship
so they can go visit Palestine.
And it's kind of
like heartbreaking
because like my dad, you know,
barely can read
Arabic to study German.
- The Zionists were coming
to the encampment and saying,
I'm going to come in and
r*pe the women in there.
I'm going to r*pe you.
- I hope they r*pe you.
- I hope they r*pe you.
[crowd chanting]
- They would come,
and they would scream,
like, you're all t*rrorists.
They would throw things
into the encampment.
- I know. I know.
You're f*cking baby K*llers.
- Do some sh*t!
What's up! What's up!
b*tch-a*s m*therf*cker!
- I'm a reporter.
- Have you been to Gaza?
- Do you speak Arabic?
- Have you been to Gaza?
- Send him there.
- What language do you speak?
Where are you from?
Where's your ancestors from?
- I'm a reporter.
- Why are you even here?
You're just another
dummy, right?
Another stupid guy.
- And nothing, not a peep
from our administration
about our safety
and our protection.
- Get out of here.
- Get out of here.
- This is a t*rror1st.
This is a t*rror1st.
f*ck you.
- The Zionists
came with weapons.
And that's when it
became extremely scary.
- Anger flared at
the line of barricades
that has been set up
at the pro-Palestinian
encampment on the campus.
[men yelling]
- f*ck you, old lady!
f*ck you!
- f*ck you old lady!
- Hes got no chance!
- Our dean watched
as the Zionists came
and beat up students from
the balcony of Royce Hall.
I had that same feeling I had
when I was kicked
off the bus in Palestine.
No one is coming to save you.
Not even the people
who took an oath
that they were going
to come and save you.
Free Palestine.
- Watch out! Watch out!
[expl*si*n]
[crowd screaming]
- What gives you insight into
what the universities were doing
during these protests and
specifically with Columbia?
- Well, I worked in
the top office there
representing the communications
from one of their schools.
I was in this role when
October 7th happened.
In the early
months of the crisis,
I drafted communications
that attempted to contextualize
the Israeli-Palestine situation.
I obviously wanted to
acknowledge the tragedy
of any Israelis who lost
their lives on October 7th.
But I also wanted to
bring in the fact that
a number of Palestinians
had been k*lled
at the hand of Israel
in the months leading
up to October 7th.
I was told to take
anything about
previous Palestine struggles
out of the communications.
And for whatever
reason, in the document,
the word Palestine and
Palestinian were struck out,
but the word Hamas was kept.
I asked for
clarification from that
and I was told that
for the time being,
we were going to stick
to the word Hamas.
We weren't going to use the
word Palestine and Palestinian.
I was approached on
campus by several students.
They were concerned that
the deaths of Palestinians
would be minimized, if
not just completely ignored
in the statements coming
out from the school.
And I asked them what
they wanted me to do.
And they said,
could you just please
start putting some numbers
into these statements?
You know, absolutely acknowledge
the Israelis who
have lost their lives.
But also, could you
please put in the number of
Palestinians who lost their
lives, just so people can see?
I brought that back to my boss
and what they
said to me was this.
"Who were these students?"
And I said, well, I
didn't get their names.
And they said, no,
no. Who were they?
And I said, well, it
was a couple of women
and there was a man.
They said, do I have
to spell it out for you?
What did they look like?
What color was their skin?
Were they wearing scarves?
And I didn't feel comfortable
answering that question.
Then I was admonished
and told to not fall into a,
quote, skewed perspective
that I would be getting from
students throughout this crisis.
- Just to make sure.
Community guidelines,
this is an anti-Zionist
community building zone,
no smoking, no drinking,
no talking to cops,
no engaging with
counter protestors.
- Got it, love it, thank you.
- Hi, we're returning.
- Okay, yeah, come on in.
[Israeli music playing]
- Israel was a very
big part of our family.
In my childhood I
had this idea that
in order for Jews to be safe,
they had to have a state.
As I was in college,
one thing that everybody
would say was Free Palestine,
the Israeli settler state.
And I'd be like, I don't
really understand, like,
why everybody is just
erasing Jewish history
and, like, needlessly
attacking Jews.
The more you learn about it,
the more you learn that that's
not actually the argument.
The issue is not the
existence of Jewish people
in historic Palestine.
It's the process of
settler colonialism,
and the displacement
of the Palestinian people,
the genocide of the
Palestinian people.
I started to really question.
I was learning things which were
not going to be very acceptable
to large portions of my family.
It almost feels like you
are having to sort of reject
a part of yourself.
The more that I became
sort of disillusioned
with the project of Zionism,
that happened at the
moment where I sort of
started to get into
Jewish studies.
Like, you know, I was teaching
myself how to read Hebrew.
I was doing, like, Torah study.
It became really
important to me that I
actually do have, like, a
positive connection to Judaism.
- Joining us now,
a lead negotiator
for the student coalition
at Columbia University,
Mahmoud Khalil.
Mahmoud, thank you so much
for taking a few
moments with us.
Mahmoud, as you know,
threats and fear of violence
have driven many Jewish students
from the campus at Columbia.
What do you say to people
who say the campus is now
an unsafe place
for Jewish students?
- Once again, I would say
that the liberation of Palestine
and the Palestinians
and the Jewish
people are intertwined.
They go hand in hand.
Antisemitism and any
other form of racism
has no place on this
campus and in this movement.
It's completely farcical
to imply that in any way,
like, Jewish people were,
you know, being persecuted
or being driven off
the encampment.
We don't tolerate that.
We're internationalists.
We believe that this is a
struggle that unites all people.
- So when I watch these media
reports of rampant antisemitism
and I hear school
officials give speeches
or present statements on it,
they're avoiding
giving any example
because I really feel
like there's a dearth
of these examples.
I mean, they're
there on the scene.
They have cameras set up.
They have reporters there 24/7.
So where are the sound bites
of the people saying
the antisemitic things?
- Today, Jewish students
at Columbia University
spoke out saying,
that they feel unsafe.
- I've seen them parrot
foul antisemitic tropes.
- There's a certain
minority of students
who feel threatened
by the very presence
of people who are advocating
for stopping a genocide.
And those people are
listened to much, much more
than the majority of the people
who are advocating for cutting
ties with the genocidal regime.
- I have never felt
more proud to be Jewish
and more in line with the values
of my faith than when
I was being taken out
of Columbia's lawns with my
hands zip-tied behind my back
in order to push our university
to divest from genocide,
apartheid, and
occupation in Palestine.
- I was actually
assigned to investigate
what were the antisemitic
comments that were happening,
what was antisemitism,
how could we combat it,
what's going to
be our messaging?
What I found is that these
claims of antisemitism
were really being driven by
the pro-Israel student groups
that were on campus
or pro-Israel faculty.
- Show your f*cking face!
- You are not New Yorkers.
New York hates you.
- Go to Gaza! See how
that works out for you!
- You are not Americans.
Monsters.
- What they were
classifying as antisemitism
was any criticism
of Israel whatsoever.
And we're going
even further than that.
I've read reports of people
claiming antisemitism
because they heard
the word Palestine
or the word Palestinian.
Or that there was a Palestinian
student enrolled in their class.
They saw these things as
hate crimes and hate speech.
And they were cataloged
as such by the schools.
[helicopter whirring]
[indistinct conversation]
[crowd singing]
- We are here.
And if anyone here disagrees
with me, you can tell me.
But I think we are here
because we are Jews.
Not just because
we happen to be.
Because that is
part of who we are.
To fight for liberation
of every human being.
To know that every human
being is a divine image.
That is what we're
doing right now.
And we are separating ourselves
from people who are somehow
incapable of seeing that.
We are fighting
for the divine spark
for the Tzelem
Elohim in every person.
You're all so amazing.
And it's an honor
to be here with you.
- If you're familiar with
the Havdalah service,
please sing loudly and proudly.
If you're not, please
sing loudly and proudly.
It's very Jewish to
not know the words
and not know everything,
but you'll catch on.
[crowd singing]
- I'm so proud of you.
- I'm so proud of you.
Dude, your photos
have been insane.
- They're so good, Judy.
- I'm been watching you.
- Those of us who
have been suspended,
don't want to like,
jeopardize ourselves more.
But we also really want
to be in community, so...
We've been talking
to legal about it.
- I would get expelled to do
Passover in the encampment.
- There's a possibility of,
like, a two seders situation.
- Look, its been two days
and we've taken five buildings.
Hamilton, Low, Avery,
Fayerweather, and Math.
We've got the
administration figured right,
their up for calling the cops,
and when they do,
we wanna be here.
- We're no longer asking,
but demanding,
an end to all affiliation
and ties
with the Institute
for Defense Analysis.
That has resulted
in the slaughter
and maiming
of thousands
of Vietnamese and Americans.
- In 68, the students at
Columbia took over the campus,
mainly in protest of
the w*r in Vietnam,
specifically for
Columbia to divest.
- We can tell how
much this university
is hooked into servicing
the corporations
and hooked into
servicing the w*r machine.
- The occupation
of Hamilton Hall
was really led
by black students.
- The Black students
of Columbia University,
joined by a few members
of the black community,
have been in Hamilton
Hall for 56 hours.
Morale is high.
- Learning from the
lessons of history,
from the civil rights movement,
from the women's
suffrage movement,
from the labor movement,
from the abolitionist movement,
that you have to be
willing to be beaten,
to be arrested, to be k*lled,
is what made those student
protestors understand
that they were standing
on the shoulders of history.
- I found a student
who was dazed,
bleeding profusely
from the forehead.
The police refused
to let me pass.
I said this man is
wounded, he needs help.
They said get out.
- The students were
successful in changing
a lot of the culture at
Columbia University.
Columbia did
reexamine its position
on what was happening
in the w*r in Vietnam.
This also led to
the New York City
Police Department
ban on Columbia campus.
Columbia talks about
how great that was.
How we were a place
of critical thinking
and free thought.
How many leaders
and scholars came out of
those encampments
and those protests.
That they are themselves
college professors
and doctors and lawyers.
They've revised it to say it
was okay then, but not okay now.
[dramatic music]
- Can you talk about some of
the risks that Palestinian students
and other international
students take in speaking out
and being vocal on this?
- A lot of the
Palestinian students here
they feel very uncomfortable
very very uncomfortable,
participating
and protesting the
genocide of their people.
Thats why we are
very grateful for...
everyone on campus for
protesting on our behalf.
- And what would happen
to you if you were deported?
- I will live.
We will continue to live, the
Palestinian people have been
under occupation,
ethnic cleansing
and all sort of
of crimes since 1948
and we prevailed,
we will prevail no
matter what will happen.
- The eyes of the nation
and the eyes of the
globe are on Columbia.
We will not be giving in.
We will not give
them what they want.
[crowd cheering]
- We shouldn't stop here.
Because the people in
Gaza are under bombs,
and here we are under
disciplinary charges.
[crowd clapping]
- We were attempting to bargain
with the university
in good faith,
but they were stonewalling us.
- They were surveilling
the negotiations,
though they begged us to
keep things in confidence.
The administration, for example,
they sent in a man who
was dressed as a janitor,
but he would just
put bugs in the room.
I think part of that
was to intimidate us
into thinking that
you have to sign now.
You have to agree now,
or else you get nothing.
They called in members of
the faculty to come talk to us.
And there was a woman who
began by saying, you know,
I'm Syrian, I understand,
I come from w*r.
You really have to ask yourself,
at which point are you
doing this for yourself
and not for the people in Gaza?
They did read a
best and final offer,
which was much
worse than anything
that they had
previously offered.
- They wanted
to offer, you know,
financial transparency
on direct investments,
which are a minority of total
investments in Columbia.
- Academic freedom would be
nothing more than a statement.
- They offered to
divest from any company
that was found guilty
of committing human
rights violations,
which sounds good,
but it would be a recommendation
to a body which is non-binding.
And that non-binding
recommendation
would then be deliberated upon
at which point that
body would then deliver
a second non-binding
recommendation.
So we're now two non-binding
recommendations deep.
- They often told us that,
you know, you take a deal here,
other universities are watching.
And that's why it was
particularly important for us
that we not take a deal,
a shitty deal, an empty deal,
that was nothing
more than statements
that we knew would
never really yield a result.
The only portion
of their proposal
that was giving us anything
were the resilience
funds or the scholarships,
which are a slap in the face.
It's really an insult to
everyone's intelligence
to suggest that a scholarship
would be the remedy
for participating in a genocide.
If you were to ask
a person in Gaza
who's surviving a genocide,
would you rather the bombs stop?
Or would you rather I
continue bombing you,
but you can also
come to my school?
The mediators were
trying to convince us
that we should take this deal.
But where it would place us is--
we know that in a few months
it's not going to go through
the Board of Trustees.
And then students are
going to want to protest again.
But you made everybody
sign an attestation form
as they were getting
off the encampment.
So actually they can't
protest without risking
further disciplinary sanctions
in a way that
they hadn't before.
So you've closed off
all routes to protest.
And you've also effectively
ensured that we're actually
not getting any of
our demands met.
It's signing on nothing.
- They threatened
with disciplinary
if we don't agree to this.
At that point, Sueda
did most of the talking.
She was like
raging against them.
I just opened the
door and called Sueda.
Let's go.
- Earlier today,
President Shafik sent out
an email announcing
the end of negotiations.
And declared explicitly
that the university will
not divest from Israel.
The university
has conducted itself
with obstinacy and arrogance.
And the students refuse to
trade in the blood of Palestinians.
- d*ck, we're now six hours
past the administration's
deadline for student
protestors to leave the
encampment or face consequences.
But most students
that we spoke to
said they're not going anywhere.
- When the police give
the trespass warning...
- When the police give
the trespass warning...
- Turn your phone on
airplane mode and power it off.
- Turn your phone on
airplane mode and power it off.
- We needed to
place pressure again
on the administration
to reopen negotiations.
- We knew that we
needed to escalate further.
The idea of an
occupation of Hamilton Hall
along the lines of
the 1968 protests
was something that people
were always sort of considering.
When we felt that there
was no further progress
to be made in negotiations
in any engagement
with the administration...
then it seemed
like the perfect time.
[crowd chanting]
[dramatic music]
The Hind's Hall,
when it first happened,
I think it was one of the
most joyful moments of my life.
The picket was so strong,
the chants were so beautiful...
it was just like an
electric, electric moment.
- Up! Up! With liberation!
- Up! Up! With liberation!
- Down! Down! With occupation!
[dramatic music]
- Hind's Hall is named
after Hind Rajab,
who was a six-year-old
Palestinian girl from Gaza,
who was assassinated by
the Israeli t*rror1st forces.
- She was in a car fleeing
Gaza City with an aunt,
an uncle, and some cousins
when they were shot at.
She was alive while the
rest of the family was k*lled,
and she called the Palestinian
Red Crescent Society.
They dispatched an
ambulance to save her.
The ambulance
and the medics inside
were also intentionally
k*lled by the occupation.
- They are dead.
- Are they dead?
- Yes.
- Are they in the
car with you now?
- Yes.
- Stay in the car, sweetie.
I'm going to stay on the phone.
Talking to you.
I won't hang up, ok?
- Ok.
The tank is next to me.
- Is it moving or is it still?
Did someone get out of it?
- Yes, it is moving.
- Is it very close?
- Yes, very very close.
- Ok, don't be scared.
- Please stay with me.
- I'm with you, sweetie.
I'm with you.
I won't hang up.
Even if the soldiers come,
God forbid. Don't have up, ok?
We don't want to hang
up, I'm here with you.
- Please come take me, please.
Please stay with me.
- Darling, I swear I'm with you.
I'm here with
you, talking to you.
- It's almost night, I'm scared.
[crying]
Come get me, please.
- Three hundred and
fifty-five b*ll*ts were used
on the car that
Hind Rajab was in.
She was six, she was a baby.
And so many other babies
in Gaza have been k*lled.
Um, so... The Palestinian
students in CUAD
wanted to honor Hind and
named the hall after her,
which isn't sufficient,
really, but it was,
I think, a good way to
bring her to life
on U.S. campuses.
And thats her story.
- Today...
- Today...
- we take this building...
- we take this building...
- In honor of Hind...
- In honor of Hind...
- and every
Palestinian martyr...
- and every
Palestinian martyr...
- Because we will
honor all the martyrs!
- We will honor all the martyrs!
- All the parents,
mothers, fathers!
- All the parents,
mothers, fathers!
- We will honor all the martyrs!
- We will honor all the martyrs!
- All the children,
sons, and daughters!
- All the children,
sons, and daughters!
- We will honor all the martyrs!
- We will honor all the martyrs!
- All the parents,
mothers, fathers!
- All the parents,
mothers, fathers!
- We will honor all the martyrs!
- We will honor all the martyrs!
- All the children,
sons, and daughters!
- All the children,
sons, and daughters!
[train rattling]
- The first few
hours of the day,
it was quiet around us.
We felt like, okay, Columbia
didn't raid us last night,
They're going to
wait it out a little bit.
And we just thought the
more time that we had,
the more it was
likely that we could get
the negotiations up and running
and reestablish
that bargaining chip,
which was the whole
point of taking Hind's Hall.
The next 20 hours afterwards
were kind of a whirlwind.
[yelling and drumming]
[chanting and drumming]
[indistinct conversation]
- We are here today
to update New Yorkers
about the ongoing situation
at Columbia University.
And our plans to
protect students, our staff,
and the public.
They're not here to
promote peace or unity
or allow a peaceful
displaying of one's voice,
but they're here to create
discord and divisiveness.
This must end now.
- The admin
wanted to talk again.
They were just pleading
with us to take the deal.
You have one final
offer to take the deal.
Just take this deal or else.
There was no reason
to take such a bad deal.
They said that the
NYPD would be coming.
[radio chatter]
- We shall not be moved.
Standing up for justice,
we shall not be moved.
Standing up for justice,
we shall not be moved.
Just like a tree that's
standing by the water...
- Clear it out! Let's go!
- ...We shall not be moved.
- You are unlawfully
obstructing pedestrian traffic...
- We will not stop!
We will not rest,
disclose, divest!
- Now! Now! Down the stairs!
Let's go!
- Journalists were
moved by the police
into other university buildings.
[yelling]
- They don't want us to witness
how they treat
resistance to genocide!
- Shame!
[siren wailing]
- Get down now! Stay down!
[alarm sounding]
- It really was like a
scene from a movie.
And, I couldn't watch
the video footage
that came out of that night.
It just really keeps
occurring to me,
like, why do they do this to us?
These students aren't
doing anything bad.
In fact, they're doing something
everybody should be doing.
- When Hind's Hall was
raided, it gave a green light
to university administrations
to do the same.
- Move! Move!
[expl*si*n]
- We just had an expl*si*n here.
They just tear gassed people.
They're coming!
- [chanting] You
don't need a g*n!
- They got the less-lethals out.
Ready to go off on
some college kids.
- These police
officers out here today,
that's thousands of
student scholarships!
[dog barking]
[yelling]
- Police say 120 protesters
were taken away in zip ties.
- After hundreds of police
used flash bang grenades,
rubber b*ll*ts and tear gas in
a face-off with
protesters who chanted,
"We are not leaving,
you don't scare us."
[chanting]
[somber music]
- Our dean came on the
loud speaker and said,
this is your warning,
if you do not leave now,
they're going to break
into the encampment
and arrest all of you
and we will not stop them.
They started
sh**ting rubber b*ll*ts
and throwing mace bombs
and they infiltrated
the encampment.
[expl*si*n]
[siren wailing]
One of our students
had a chest contusion
from being shot in the
chest by a rubber b*llet
without even making
contact with an officer.
- At their request,
we went in and
conducted an operation to
allow Columbia University to
remove those who have
turned the peaceful protest into
a place where antisemitism
and anti-Israeli attitudes
were pervasive.
- Our job is to keep
people in our city safe
and the NYPD is
ready to do their job
anywhere and anytime
we're called upon.
They tried to lock us out,
but the NYPD and the
people of the city of New York
will never be locked out
and we will always work
together to keep our city safe.
- These past two weeks
have been among the most
difficult in Columbia's history.
The issues that
are challenging us,
the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict,
antisemitism, and anti-Arab
and anti-Muslim bias,
have existed for a long time.
And Columbia, despite
being a remarkable institution,
cannot solve them
single-handedly.
What we can do is be an
exemplar of a better world,
where people who
disagree do so civilly,
recognize each other's humanity,
and show empathy and
compassion for one another.
We have a lot to do,
but I am committed to
working at it every day,
and with each of you,
to rebuild community
on our campus.
- We're just getting started.
We are creative.
We have a cause
that we believe in.
And we're going
to fight til the end.
- Struggling for Palestine
is just like breathing.
Because the moment
that we stop advocating
and fighting for Palestine,
is the moment we die.
We will resist it.
Until Palestine is free.
[chanting and drumming]
- We're just trying
to keep it moving,
we're not trying to
slow anybody down.
- The individual that I spoke to
was intentionally blocking
people from entering.
- Okay.
I can talk to them.
- Please do.
- Alright. Thank you.
- As we prepare to
begin a new semester.
- As we prepare to
begin a new semester.
- Gazan students
have no universities left.
- Disclose! Divest!
We will not stop,
we will not rest!
Disclose! Divest!
We will not stop,
we will not rest!
- These are now
fundamental challenges to
the legitimacy of
the whole system.
And you have to
think about the role
that universities play
in the United States,
particularly the
elite universities.
These are the factories
that produce the people
that end up running the media,
running the political system,
running the corporations.
If you lose control of them,
then ultimately you lose
control of elite opinion.
- Israel cannot exist
without U.S. weapons,
without U.S. money,
without U.S. political cover,
without U.S. Intelligence.
And if the masses of
people in the United States
are rapidly dropping
their support
of the Israeli cause,
this is a significant defeat.
- Thank you to the students
of Columbia University.
Thank you! Thank you!
- We love you.
- What I witnessed until
mid-May, gave me chills.
It brought me the most joy.
I didn't miss a single
video of the students
who talk about Palestine,
educate others on
the Palestinian cause.
With true political and
historical knowledge.
It is one of the most
important things
that made people
open their eyes.
Those videos
brought us to tears.
We looked at those
videos and thought,
thank God, people
finally recognize us.
Our death has a price.
Not that any
price is worth this.
There is no price
worth this death.
This extermination,
whatever it may be.
Except the price
of freedom.
The price we paid for
the world's awakening,
the students' awakening,
the awakening of families
and consumers able
to boycott their products,
the awakening of people,
children, and teenagers,
50,000 martyrs is
a very heavy price.
The complete destruction
of an entire country,
that will take
decades to rebuild.
The price was our forced
displacement from our lands.
I have not seen my
home for over a year now.
The price we paid
made us slightly feel
that we are not alone.
- We will not stop,
we will not rest!
Disclose, divest!
- This could give some hope for
the end of the occupation.
- This is the beginning of
the end to the occupation.
The phase may be very long.
But it's definitely the
start of the decline.
The world has waken up.
When the occupation ends,
the first thing I would do...
Definitely going
back to Palestine.
I have this dream of mine
of jumping off the wall
of Akka into the sea.
Then continue building
a state for everyone.
A state that embraces
all its citizens.
A state that values human lives.
One day, Inshallah.
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Encampments, The (2025)
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