Columbia suspends in-person classes as arrests made and Jewish students report threats. What’s behind the protests?
All eyes are on New York’s Columbia University as the school contends with pro-Palestinian protests and rising concerns about antisemitism.
The university’s president moved classes online on Monday due to tensions, while one rabbi called for Jewish students to leave campus over fears of antisemitic violence and harassment on Monday, the first day of Passover.
For the past week, hundreds of pro-Palestine student activists have demanded that Columbia divest its financial ties with Israel due to the country’s war in Gaza, launching street demonstrations and building a massive encampment on the college campus, leading the school to call in the New York Police Department (NYPD).
Here’s everything you need to know about the protests at Columbia, and other major US universities.
