'We don't want our university funding genocide' - Columbia students say negotiations hit impasse

Record ID: 1816016

  • Title: 'We don't want our university funding genocide' - Columbia students say negotiations hit impasse
  • Date: 26th April 2024
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 26, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TENTS AND STUDENTS ON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CAMPUS SIGNS SAYING (English) "5,791+ KILLED IN 2 WEEKS," "FREE PALESTINE," "BARNARD COLLEGE" PAN FROM JOURNALISTS TO SPEAKER (SOUNDBITE STARTING OFF CAMERA) (English) JONATHAN BEN-MENACHEM, FOUR-YEAR PHD STUDENT, SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, ORGANIZER WITH COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY APARTHEID DIVEST (CUAD), SAYING: "So, today is day 203 of genocide for Palestinians in Gaza and nearly 75 years of colonial violence from the apartheid state of Israel and immense anguish for Palestinians everywhere. If you are not focusing on the brutal genocide currently happening in Gaza and the apartheid system Palestinians are living under in all of occupied Palestine, we implore you to do so. It is important to remember why we are here. Our encampment here at Columbia, and encampments everywhere around the country, are part of a larger movement for Palestinian liberation." BEN-MENACHEM SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) JONATHAN BEN-MENACHEM, FOUR-YEAR PHD STUDENT, SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, ORGANIZER WITH COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY APARTHEID DIVEST (CUAD), SAYING: "CUAD organizers have three demands. One, divest all finances, including the endowment from corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine. Two, complete transparency for all of Columbia's financial investments. Three, amnesty for all students and faculty disciplined or fired in the Movement for Palestinian Liberation." PAN FROM SPEAKER TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SUEDA POLAT, NEGOTIATOR ON BEHALF OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY APARTHEID DIVEST (CUAD), SAYING: "We've been in negotiations with the (Columbia) University since Friday, but increasingly we are met with an unwillingness to understand what are the core demands of the student movement. As we've said time and again, at the heart of this action, at the heart of this encampment, is the wish for a complete divestment and boycott of institutions that are complicit in Israel's genocide. Despite this, the university has proposed only further engagement with the apartheid state." VARIOUS OF BLUE TENT WITH SIGNS SUPPORTING PALESTINIAN CAUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAHMOUD KHALIL, SECOND-YEAR SIPA (SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS) GRADUATE STUDENT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "As of now, there are no assurances from the university that no NYPD (New York Police Department) or any other law enforcement, including the National Guard, will be brought into the university." REPORTER ASKING QUESTION "Are the talks going to continue?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAHMOUD KHALIL, SECOND-YEAR SIPA (SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS) GRADUATE STUDENT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "Yes. So yesterday we had a very long session with... with the university negotiators. We spent 11 hours in the negotiation room. Today, we spent about an hour as well. Clearly, there are... as we mentioned, we are at the stage where kind of an impasse. The university is not acknowledging the movement and the extent of the movement. And what they're willing to offer is mostly just the statements, processes, and committees." TENTS AND STUDENTS AT CAMPUS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAHMOUD KHALIL, SECOND-YEAR SIPA (SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS) GRADUATE STUDENT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "Once again, our movement here, when they tried to clear it last week, we prevailed. If they want to once again bring NYPD or any law enforcement, we will prevail. Our movement is not only this encampment. It was not the encampment. Our movement is very, very large. And we will have our own ways in order to make sure that our voices are heard." TENTS AND STUDENTS AT CAMPUS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SUEDA POLAT, NEGOTIATOR ON BEHALF OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY APARTHEID DIVEST (CUAD), SAYING: "Again, it is in our best interests to reach an agreement before commencement, because we want students and families to be able to celebrate this milestone together on this campus. Though, there are parties within the administration who would like to see negotiations fail, again, we are reiterating that successful negotiations are the only viable option to end this encampment." TENTS AND STUDENTS AT CAMPUS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MOHAMMAD HEMEIDA, THIRD-YEAR HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT, JUNIOR, COLUMBIA COLLEGE, NOT CUAD MEMBER, DEMONSTRATOR, MEMBER OF STUDENT GOVERNING BOARD, SAYING: "I think it's incredibly anxiety-inducing for a lot of Columbia students, especially protesters. I also think it's inspiring to see how many students have decided to speak out on their own campuses. I think this is maybe giving them, you know, a warning as to what might happen when you do speak out, but also an example of 'Look, there are students who are speaking out and even in the face of repression.’ I think it's no surprise. I mean, students on all college campuses across the country, across the world are disheartened. They don't want their tuition money going towards genocide. And so students are choosing to do the same thing we did here. But ultimately, it's really about centering Gaza. Every student movement has been in solidarity with Palestinians, not in solidarity with us. All of us are doing our encampments, our protest, for the same reason, which is we don't want our university funding genocide." TENTS AND STUDENTS AT CAMPUS
  • Embargoed: 10th May 2024 21:48
  • Keywords: Columbia University Gaza Israel campus genocide protest students
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,North America,Civil Unrest
  • Reuters ID: LVA001826926042024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A pro-Palestinian student group at Columbia University said on Friday (April 26) that negotiations with the school hit an impasse.
    Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) demanded the school divest from organizations that work with Israel, become more transparent with its investments, and issue amnesty for all students and faculty disciplined or fired for participating in protests on the campus.
    "The university is not acknowledging the movement and the extent of the movement," said Mahmoud Khalil, a second-year SIPA (School of International and Public Affairs) graduate student at Columbia University and one of the CUAD negotiators. "And what they're willing to offer is mostly just the statements, processes, and committees."
    Columbia University has tried to convince students to remove their encampment from its campus.
    The school's president, Nemat Minouche Shafik, summoned New York police on April 18 to dismantle the tents.
    Police arrested more than 100 people that day and removed the tents from the main lawn of the school's Manhattan campus, but the protesters quickly returned and set up tents again, narrowing Columbia's options on dismantling it.
    Since then, Shafik has faced an outcry from many students, faculty, and outside observers.
    Like-minded protests against Israel's actions have spread to schools across the United States and overseas.
    "It is in our best interests to reach an agreement before commencement," said Sueda Polat, one of the CUAD negotiators with Columbia University. "Successful negotiations are the only viable option to end this encampment."
    (Production: Allysyn Landrum, Dan Fastenberg, Aleksandra Michalska)
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