Columbia University saw hundreds of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian activists gather on Monday to celebrate the anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks that occurred on October 7th. Chants of “Resistance is glorious! We will be victorious!” filled the air as participants waved banners with phrases like “We Will Honor All Our Martyrs,” a term terrorists use to describe their members who commit suicide bombings against Israeli civilians or are killed in battle.
It was unclear how many of these activists were students at Columbia, and how many were from outside the university. Breitbart News reported that students from Columbia and other New York City universities planned a walkout on Monday as part of a broader set of demonstrations. The Columbia Daily Spectator stated that the administration expressed concerns about the walkout potentially violating university rules and the possibility of violence erupting during the event.
Before the walkout took place, pro-Palestinian demonstrators held their daily vigil, reading aloud the names of more than 50,000 Palestinians killed in the war in Gaza since October 7th, 2023. Protesters held banners with slogans such as “We will honor all our martyrs,” “Free Gaza free speech,” and “Break the chains and let them fall.” Standing beside them at Low Plaza were dozens of pro-Israel protesters holding Israeli and American flags, as well as pictures of hostages taken on October 7th, 2023.
Interim University President Katrina Armstrong announced additional security measures in a Sunday email and expressed concerns about groups unaffiliated with the university coming to Columbia’s campus “for activities that raise concern about the potential for violence.” Within Our Lifetime—a Palestinian-led community organization in New York City that has previously organized demonstrations promoted by pro-Palestinian student groups on campus—urged individuals to call out of school and work in a post on October 2nd, encouraging people to “stand with Gaza and uplift the Palestinian people resisting genocide by any means necessary since 1948.
The year 1948 refers to the moment when Israel declared independence, following the United Nations decision to partition the British Mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Palestinian Arabs rejected this decision, leading several Arab states to invade Israel in what would become a war that Israel won, allowing it to continue thriving ever since.
Columbia University has been the site of some of the most antisemitic and violent anti-Israel protests over the past year since October 7th. Several university administrators, including former president Lee Bollinger, resigned due to their mishandling of the protests.