Student protesters at Columbia University defied a deadline on Monday to clear their pro-Palestine encampment after officials warned they would be suspended if they continued their occupation.
The University gave students hours to leave the encampment on Columbia’s West Lawn, where demonstrators have been living in tents for the last two weeks demanding divestment from Israel.
The students were told they would be allowed to leave the protest in “good standing” with Columbia if they vacated by 2pm local time (7pm BST) on Monday and signed a declaration that they would abide by the university’s rules until the end of term.
However, students instead formed a protective circle around the tents while continuing to chant.
“Free, free Palestine,” they shouted. “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
“You know what needs to be suspended? Genocide!” Rafael Kadaris, of the Revolutionary Communists group, chanted through a megaphone shortly before the deadline fell.
‘We regret that we need to take these actions’
Columbia had warned students that it had identified “many” of the protesters, and that those who refused to leave would be banned from campus and blocked from graduating.
University authorities did not clarify immediately after the deadline had elapsed whether the individuals it identified had been automatically suspended.
“We regret that we need to take these actions, but we must restore order to the campus so that all students can complete their work for the term, study for exams, and feel welcome in the community,” Columbia said in a statement.
The demand came after almost two weeks of negotiation between the university and the protesters, who have called for Columbia to sell any investments linked to Israel, cancel a new “global centre” in Tel Aviv, and grant amnesty to demonstrators who have broken rules.
One student protest group called the threatened suspensions a “repulsive scare tactic”. “We will not move until Columbia meets our demands or we are moved by force,” it said in a statement.
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