Exactly one year after the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University, students returned to campus to mark the anniversary and protest.
In the early afternoon, around a hundred protesters gathered at Columbia’s campus to mark the anniversary. A year before, on April 17, 2024, dozens of students set up tents demanding the university divest from companies linked to the Israeli military. That same day, after an initial sweep by police, students created a second encampment on the opposite lawn.
Two weeks later, the encampment was disbanded when the NYPD raided Hamilton Hall following its occupation. But in those two intervening weeks, the protests and encampment at Columbia drew international attention, sparking similar protests to erupt across campuses worldwide.
Thursday’s “Hands Off” protest was organized by Columbia’s Student Union, Student Workers of Columbia–United Auto Workers, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Students for a Democratic Society. Together they rallied against the university’s recent compliance with the Trump administration’s demands, which were a pre-condition for restoring $400 million in federal funding: hiring officers that can arrest people at campus, banning masks, and creating a new oversight for the Middle Eastern studies department, among others.
Columbia senior Donna Privana, 22, who was at the encampment last year, said a lot has changed since then. “Everybody last year was sitting around here watching the police raid the encampment,” she said. “It was a really crazy experience to be there because everybody cared for each other, everybody was looking out for each other.”
Since taking office, the Trump administration has revoked millions of dollars in federal funding for universities, over a thousand student visas have reportedly been revoked, and several students have been arrested for participating in pro-Palestinian protests. Privana said that fewer people show up to protests now. “It’s much more dangerous to be in the protest than last semester,” she said.
Protesters on Thursday chose to display the faces of Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi on their posters, two university students and green card holders who had leadership roles in last year’s protest and who were both recently arrested and threatened with deportation.
While the protesters spoke out about ICE on campus, trans rights and academic freedom— steps away students played pickleball, took grad pictures and savored ice cream, as part of the university-organized “Fun & Games on the Lawn” event. Brittany Spears’ “Toxic” blasted in the background while protesters, covered in keffiyehs, face masks, and sunglasses, held speeches and rallied.
“We are here today because two of our classmates have been abducted by the state. Others have decided to self-deport, and our university has been absolutely silent in the wake of that,” added an organizer, who asked to be anonymous for safety concerns. “They have instead decided to bend the knee to this federal administration, and we as a student body are saying enough is enough.”
The Student Union called for action before marching downtown to meet other protesters. “This is not a moment to be silent, this is not a moment to be complicit,” they said.
Photos by Indy Scholtens.
