Dozens of students who took part in demonstrations against Israel’s war on Gaza have faced harsh penalties from Columbia University in the United States, including expulsion, course suspension, and academic degree revocation.
Nearly 80 students have now been expelled or suspended for up to three years for their participation in antiwar demonstrations, according to a statement from the student activist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest which has demanded that the university sever all financial ties with Israel.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Columbia claimed that the recent student sanctions were related to the “disruption of Butler Library in May 2025 and the encampment during Alumni Weekend in spring 2024.”
In its letter, the university stated that “disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences.”
The university’s fines against students, according to the CUAD group, “far outweigh previous precedent for teach-ins or non-Palestine-related building occupations.”
“We won’t let that stop us. The organization went on to say, “We are dedicated to the fight for Palestinian liberation.”
A worldwide campaign against Israel’s relentless onslaught on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip was sparked in part by the pro-Palestinian student encampments at Columbia University in 2024.
When hundreds of New York City police officers were permitted on campus by Columbia University, scores of arrests resulted, ultimately dispersing the protest camps.
In May of this year, student demonstrators invaded the Butler Library during final exams, calling for divestment from corporations associated with the Israeli military and demonstrating solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, despite the university’s severe crackdowns.
Following what it described as a disturbance during the “reading period,” Columbia University’s Judicial Board confirmed that it had revoked degrees, suspended students, and expelled students.
Although it stated that this was “the final set of findings from that period,” it did not specify the number of students who were expelled.
The administration of US President Donald Trump is negotiating with the Ivy League university to restore about $400 million in federal funds.
The New York City-based college lost funding from the Trump administration because of alleged inadequacies in “meaningfully protecting Jewish students against severe and pervasive harassment.”
More than a month after being freed from immigration custody in Louisiana, where he was detained amid the US president’s vow to deport pro-Palestinian activists, Mahmoud Khalil, the leader of the Columbia University protest who is being targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, met with lawmakers in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.
Source: Al Jazeera
