Anti-Israel student protesters from Barnard College, Columbia University stormed the campus's Milstein Library on Wednesday to protest what they claim to be the college hiding its investments and punitive actions taken against fellow protesters.
The Columbia chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) declared the library the "Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya Liberated Zone." According to the protesters it is named after the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza, who is being held in an Israeli prison for harboring Hamas terrorists in the hospital.
SJP posted four demands: 1. The immediate reversal of the three Barnard students' expulsions.
2. Amnesty for all students disciplined for pro-Palestine action or expression.
3. A public meeting with Dean Leslie Grinage and President Laura Rosenbury.
4. Abolition of the corrupt Barnard disciplinary process and complete transparency for current, past, and future disciplinary proceedings.
Videos posted on social media show the keffiyeh-clad protesters forcing their way into the library and staging a sit-in, chanting, and singing protest songs. According to several online reports, administrators attempted to reason with the protesters, but as of the time of reporting, the protest is still ongoing.
Photos from the scene of the demonstration show the various materials distributed among the protesters, including pamphlets on violent resistance.
This incident follows a similar protest a week ago when protesters stormed a campus building in protest of the expulsion of two students who had disrupted an Israeli professor’s class earlier this semester.
During last week's protest, law enforcement sources said a group of about 20 students stormed the academic building, shoving a 41-year-old security officer to the ground. He was later transported to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, complaining of chest pains.