Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D) daughter revealed that she was suspended from college for her involvement in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University.
In a post on X, Isra Hirsi explained that she was an organizer with Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, which pushes the university to “divest from apartheid and genocide.”
Hirsi added that she had received notice on Thursday that she is one of three students “suspended” from Barnard College “for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.”
“I’m an organizer with CU Apartheid Divest @ColumbiaSJP, in my 3 years at @BarnardCollege I have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings,” Hirsi wrote.
“I just received notice that I am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide,” she added:
i’m an organizer with CU Apartheid Divest @ColumbiaSJP, in my 3 years at @BarnardCollege i have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings
i just received notice that i am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.
— isra hirsi (@israhirsi) April 18, 2024
In a separate post, Hirsi wrote, “Those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated. We will stand resolute until our demands are met. Our demands include divestment from companies complicit in genocide, transparency of @Columbia’s investments and FULL amnesty for all students facing repression.”
Hirsi’s suspension reportedly comes in relation to her involvement in an encampment that several students took part in before police officers came in to break it up.
According to video footage on social media, students set up tents on the south lawn of the university carrying signs that read, “Liberated Zone,” “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” “Barnard Students Say: Divest Before Donations,” and “Black lives 4 Palestine.”
Representatives from Barnard College entered the encampment after being informed by Columbia University that students had been asked to “break it up,” and it had not been done.
“We’re trying to see if there’s a way that any of you want to come talk to us,” one of the representatives said. “We’re here to work with you, if you’d like to do that.” The representative warned that if students did not disperse and follow what the university was asking them to do, students would “potentially be subject to sanction at Barnard.”
In a statement, Barnard College wrote:
As many of you already know, during the early hours of Wednesday, April 17, 2024, a group of Columbia and Barnard students set up an unauthorized encampment on Columbia’s South Lawn with the stated intention to remain. We want to share information directly with you about the University and College responses to this unauthorized encampment.
Before noon on April 17, Columbia made multiple requests that students participating in the unauthorized encampment leave the awn. A number of Barnard Senior Staff also went to hte lawn to ask Barnard students participating in the encampment to leave and to advise Barnard students that they would be subject to sanctions at Barnard if they did not leave the encampment.
Members of the Barnard Senior Staff provided participants in the unauthorized encampment with written warnings at approximately 7 p.m. on April 17. These written warnings stated that students would receive interim suspensions if they did not leave the encampment by 9 p.m. on April 17.
This morning, April 18, we started to place identified Barnard students remaining in the encampment on interim suspension, and we will continue to do so.
Since Hamas, a U.S.-designated Islamic terror group attacked Israel on October 7, leaving 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 200 people taken hostage, anti-Israel protests have increased.
Omar posted a statement on X, showing “solidarity” with the students participating in the encampment.
“Columbia has always had an incredible history of students fighting for a more just world and it’s good to see that tradition continue,” Omar wrote. “As NYPD surrounds young activists, I hope their concerns are heard by school administrators and they not be criminalized. In solidarity.”
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