Anti-Israel protesters resurrected an encampment at Columbia University a month after the New York Police Department (NYPD) conducted a raid.
This is the third time an encampment has been set up on Columbia University’s campus. An initial encampment was established at the university on April 17, resulting in several students being suspended and hundreds of protesters being arrested the next day.
After the initial encampment, another one sprouted up and remained until April 30 when officers from the NYPD conducted a raid after protesters stormed and seized control of an academic building on campus.
Video footage posted to X showed students setting up tents inside the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”
Signs saying, “We’re Back B**ches,” “All Eyes on Rafah,” and “No Donations ‘Til Divestment,” were seen hanging from a white tent in the encampment.
Columbia University’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” has been re-erected, just in time for Alumni Weekend: pic.twitter.com/Nn4iBlQPoD
— Azmat Khan (@AzmatZahra) May 31, 2024
The third encampment at Columbia University comes as the university is preparing to host alumni weekend.
BREAKING: The Columbia University Gaza solidarity encampment is back just in time to disrupt Alumni Weekend on campus pic.twitter.com/kI2HOmuwcd
— Samaa Khullar (@samaakhu) May 31, 2024
The initial encampment that was established at Columbia University led to other encampments being established on college and university campuses throughout the nation, such as George Washington University, the University of Chicago, and the University of North Carolina, among others.
Protesters who took part in the various encampments and protests on university campuses issued a wide variety of demands, consisting of calling for the universities to divest from Israeli companies, ending academic ties with Israeli educational institutions, and calling for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, among other demands.