Columbia U Protests
“Look what’s happening out in the streets
Got a revolution, got to revolution
Hey, I’m dancing down the street
Got a revolution, got to revolution
Ain’t it amazing all the people I meet
Got a revolution, got to revolution”
“Whether students vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on a given issue means as much to me as if they were to tell me they like strawberries”
“All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February
I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary
And I love you, it’s ruining my life
I love you, it’s ruining my life
”
Shortly after Speaker of the House Mike Johnson spoke outside of Columbia University’s Low Library, I exited the subway at 110th and Broadway. Johnson conjured up Vice President Spiro Agnew’s ghost, calling for something akin to law and order, with an evangelical-Zionist twist mixed in for good measure1. Had I known he was going to show up, I would have booked an earlier flight.
Based on prior visits to the campus, I expected a wide-open campus. The large black iron gates are decorative, aren’t they? Nobody ever closes them, do they? Several days ago, University officials slammed the gates shut and then locked them. Nobody could access the Quad or any other part of the campus without an activated university ID. I was outside looking in.
I immediately began to circle the campus, hoping to find an exterior vantage point on the mayhem unfolding within. I walked south on Broadway to 114th Street, where I turned left, heading toward Amsterdam Avenue. I then headed north to 120th Street, where I made a left turn, heading west back to Broadway. At one point, I could see a tent in the distance, but the scene was certainly not photographic or representative of what was happening behind the locked gates. I was in photographic purgatory.
When I returned to Columbia’s main gate at 116th and Broadway, I asked someone who was doing ID checks whether there was a press officer. At the time, it seemed like a long shot, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get. I was told to speak with a woman wearing a white shirt standing just a few feet behind me. After presenting my credentials and business card, I told her what I wanted to do, noting that a decade earlier I had given a lecture at the law school. Maybe that would add to my cred. Suddenly, the gates to the kingdom swung open. She escorted me onto the campus, leaving me to my own designs once we arrived at what is now dubbed the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which is located on the southwest corner of the Quad in front of Butler Library.
“Visiting” hours were almost over, so I couldn’t get into the encampment proper, but that wasn’t an issue. Everything was in plain view. There was no need to ever enter the encampment.
[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]
Subway Exit to Columbia University
The Revolutionary Communists Taking It to the Streets
Despite the Messiah's Presence, Israelis Were Still Kidnapped and Killed on October 7, 2023
The View of the Encampment From the Outside
Directing People at Columbia University's Main Security Checkpoint--Columbia ID Required for Admission
On the Air with CNN's Erin Burnett Following Speaker of the House Mike Johnson's Visit to Columbia University
The Students Making Their Demands Known
Homer, Herodotus, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Cicero, and Vergil Casting Their Male Gaze Over the Encampment
Rules for a Democratic Safe Space
"Divest From Apartheid"
Looking Over the Encampment Toward Hamilton Hall
Biting the Hand That Feeds By Keeping Tuition Lower That It Otherwise Would Be
Wednesday Afternoon. Shortly after arriving at the encampment, I encountered two students positioned just outside the safe space. The female student was reticent about speaking, specifically declaring that everything she said was off the record. She remained largely silent.
The male student was much more talkative. He asked me how I viewed the conflict between Hamas and the Israelis. I gave him my stock answer—”Both sides are right and both are wrong. Nobody can justify what happened on October 7, and nobody can justify the Israelis’ uncalibrated carnage.” Responding, he said he wanted to be respectful, but to his way of thinking, I was drawing a false equivalency. I was pretty sure he was spitting back something one of his professors must have said. “False equivalency” is phrase oozing with superficial superiority, but by itself, is devoid of any meaning.
I then decided to ‘poke’ him. ‘In a world governed by realpolitik,’ I said, ‘any notion that the Palestinians will ever recover the portion of Palestine designated as a Jewish state in the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan was fanciful. ‘Are you really going to kick all the Jews out Tel Aviv? Not going to happen.” He told me that he didn’t think that was anyone’s objective. I was now curious, what did he think “From the River to the Sea” meant? Paraphrasing, he first told me he was Jewish, and he then said that the phrase does not mean evicting the Jews from Tel Aviv. If it did, he would not be staying in the encampment. At one point, he added that he feels very safe while in the encampment despite his Jewish heritage.
While exploring the Quad, I was surprised to find two students securing the now famous “Kidnap” posters to a wall just north of the encampment. No one was paying any attention to them, let alone attempting to impede their efforts to preserve a pro-Israeli monument. Much to my amazement, when I returned on Thursday, the posters were still affixed to the wall. Moreover, sometime overnight, somebody had planted dozens of small Israeli flags on a nearby patch of grass.
A lot has been written about the encampment, together with threats to Jewish students. Prior to the arrests on April 18, 2024, there may have been issues, particularly given the presence of outsiders on campus, but the students residing in the encampment exhibited a distinct “live and let live” vibe. If you didn’t engage or provoke them, they weren’t going to bother you.
Sometime around 5:30 PM, I called it a day.
Looking North Over the Encampment Toward Low Library
"Transexuals Dykes Fagz 4 Palestine" Reflecting One Aspect of Today’s Intersectionality
Overlooking the Supplies
Affixing Tape to Signs Posted Just Above the Encampment
About to Go Live
Columbia University's Nourishing Mother Throwing Up Her Arms
The Pro-Israeli Forces Claimed Space Nearby the Encampment
Thursday Afternoon. I returned Thursday sometime around Noon, so that I could attend the daily press conference conducted by the students. Little did I know that one of the self-proclaimed spokespeople, 20-year old Khymani James, would dominate the front page of the New York Times over the weekend. They had previously made incendiary remarks, including claiming that “Zionists don’t deserve to live,” and “I don’t fight to injure or for there to be a winner or a loser, I fight to kill.” On Friday, Columbia barred James from campus.
I was not surprised to learn of Columbia’s action. After the news conference, I asked James if they would type their name on my iPhone notepad. They looked at me dismissively, and then turned to another spokesperson, Mohammad Hemeida, instructing him to type it. Although soft-spoken when responding to questions during the press conference, James exuded arrogance, self-satisfaction, and intolerance. They took great pleasure in saying that they would offer no comment at this time when responding to several questions.
I also listened as an NBC News producer spoke with another student off-camera for 15 minutes, asking him what his parents thought about his involvement in the protest, whether he felt safe, and why he felt strongly about the cause. At one point, he said that the students were using “our privilege” to help those without privilege.
Later in the afternoon, a couple of students inside the encampment objected when I attempted to photograph what was a makeshift “food pantry” even though I was standing outside the encampment and was photographing the supplies without anyone in my frame. They were concerned that I might capture the unmasked faces of occupants, which somehow could prove detrimental to those occupants in the future.
I take issue with this demand for several reasons. First, there were dozens of credentialed photographers and videographers roaming around the area. Like it or not, the resulting photographs would depict faces. During the last week, I have seen dozens of photographs in papers throughout the country doing just that—showing faces.
Second, and relatedly, those who are concerned about their faces being depicted in news reports can easily address that concern by wearing masks, as many students did.
Third, on camera, participating students have demanded that their First Amendment rights be respected. Those rights don’t exist on Columbia’s campus (unless the university has an announced a policy granting something akin to First Amendment rights), because Columbia is a private institution. Yet, those same students are quite willing to impose content limits on the media—an institution also protected by the First Amendment. Quite Trumpian in spirit.
Fourth, and most importantly, the students’ demand oozes hypocrisy. ‘We are using our privilege, but we want ensure that when we graduate, we can retain the privileged position in society that our parents provided us, assuring ourselves high paying jobs at medical institutions, tech firms, law firms, investment banks, and management consulting firms. Why do these students want to preserve their opportunities to work for the same institutions that help meld U.S. hegemony over the world’s oppressed peoples? Unlike their Sixties counterparts, these students have existed for too long in a world filled with safe spaces and trigger warnings.
Roaring With Slogans
Self-Described Spokesperson Khymani James Responding to a Question During a Thursday Afternoon Press Conference
Speaking to Vox Outside the ‘De-Militariz’ Zone
Just Reading a Book on Campus
About to Go Live
Despite All The Hoopla, Many People Simply Went About Their Regular Business
A Low-Key Counter-Demonstration
Members of Neturei Karta Standing Outside the Locked Gates of Columbia University In Support of the Student Demonstrators Encamped in the Quad
Nothing Stops Them Despite Being Denied Access to Campus
A Makeshift Supply Pantry
Tents Surrounded By University Buildings
Thursday Evening. Up until Thursday evening, the entire affair had been relatively low key and uneventful. Sometime earlier in the day, rumors began to circulate that there would be a demonstration on the streets somewhere nearby the university. I naturally assumed, the pro-Palestinian students would be the ones demonstrating, but there was a surprise in store for me.
At 5:30 PM, I first headed to the only ‘open’ restroom before taking to the streets. Earlier, another photographer had told me about a small, on-campus cafe. Although it was not accessible to people without Columbia ID cards, nobody was checking ID cards at the door. She told me, “Just follow a student as they head into the cafe.” Rule Number 1 to covering demonstrations: First, and foremost, locate an available restroom.
After taking care of nature’s business, I exited the campus at 116th and Broadway, and then I headed south on Broadway, encountering a float-like wagon being pulled by a pickup truck. On board were a group of young people—presumably Jews—dancing to and singing along with what might best be described as a Jewish Disco soundtrack. In one sense, highly amusing, but in another, a sign of the taunts that would likely fill the night air.
As I walked westward, I saw several people carrying Israeli flags headed toward Morningside Drive. Within moments, I encountered a group of demonstrators at one of the overlooks above Harlem. Although some participants carried Israeli flags, the organizers were Evangelical Zionists. I didn’t check whether the men were circumcised, but I sensed that there were also Jewish men and women tossed into the mix. Based on age, I would bet that the Jews among them were neighborhood residents.
The demonstrators simply stood around, talking among themselves. This looked to be one of the worst demonstrations I ever attended. Then coming from the south, a group of ten or so counter-demonstrators marched toward the intersection banging drums and pots, some carrying pro-Palestinian signage. The opposing forces were magnetically drawn toward each other, opening the possibility for a violent clash in the intersection. The police, however, formed a line between the two groups, keeping them largely separated, with the exception of one guy carrying an Israeli flag who kept approaching the counter-demonstrators. He was lucky that he was not arrested.
The Evangelicals then marched westward, toward Amsterdam Avenue, where they stopped in front of Columbia’s gates for some short speeches and songs, before marching up to 120th Street, and then west to Broadway. At that point, they headed south, only to run a gauntlet of police officers, anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews, and pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Once again, the police did an excellent job of keeping the opposing sides separated.
When I first encountered the anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Brooklyn last October, many were timid, avoiding eye contact as they gazed downward. Since October, I have encountered these same demonstrators on three other occasions. Over that span of time, they have matured into feisty advocates for their position. Now that the teenagers have had a taste of the world outside of their otherwise closeted existence, I wonder whether any might stray permanently from the fold, reminiscent of Chaim Potek’s Asher Lev.
Before following the Evangelical Christian demonstrators back to Amsterdam Avenue, I witnessed a miracle. A man, who described himself as an IDF solider who had served in Gaza, and a pro-Palestinian demonstrator were engaged in a civil discussion while standing on sidewalk next to Columbia’s walls. Indeed, there were several similar discussions taking place.
But before too much peace broke out, I headed over to Amsterdam Avenue, just in time to see two pro-Palestinian demonstrators taken into police custody. I have no idea why they were arrested.
Lining the west side of Amsterdam Avenue were at least 200 pro-Israeli demonstrators. Once again, I believe most were Jews who lived in the surrounding neighborhood. On the other side of the street, there was a much smaller contingency of pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Most did not look like students.
Several groups of NYPD officers clad in riot gear paraded up and down Amsterdam Avenue, keeping the street clear of demonstrators. To make their point, the police parked four or five buses bearing the word “Corrections” in the middle of the street. These were the vehicles used when there are mass arrests. With one notable exception, the two sides honored the NYPD’s edict, which was broadcast several times after I arrived—’You can voluntarily clear the street now, but if you remain in the street, you will be arrested for disorderly conduct.’
After an hour or so, I decided to head home. Returning to Broadway, I discovered that same IDF solider still engaged in civil discussions. He and his new opponent were tossing historical facts back and forth. At one point, I heard one of them concede to the other one that he had a good point.
When I boarded the subway train, I saw three photographers with NYPD press credentials across seated across from me. We acknowledged each other, as we had done throughout the day. I apparently had made the right decision: No more news today, so time to get some dinner.
A Pro-Israeli Truck Heading South on Broadway Outside the Gates of Columbia University, Hoping to Send a Message to Those Occupying the Quad
Trying to Overpower the Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators With Celebratory Jewish Disco Music
Evangelical Zionists Holding a Counter-Demonstration Along Morningside Drive
Fox News Interviewing Two Pro-Israeli Demonstrators on Morningside Drive
Three NYPD Officers Try to Keep an Evangelical Zionist Demonstrator Separated From the Anti-Zionism Jewish Demonstrators
Screaming the Gospel Outside of Columbia's East Gates
On My Knees, Surrounded By 250 of My Best Friends
Headed Toward Broadway
Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer Who Tried to Overthrow Hitler Inspiring the Evangelical Zionists as They Pass Columbia University's Outer Walls
A Controlled Clash Between Not So Timid Anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews and Pro-Israeli Supporters
Pleased
A Pro-Israeli Supporter Who Is Irate Being Restrained Presumably By His Wife
Civility Breaks Out Between an IDF Solider Who Served in Gaza and a Pro-Palestinian Partisan
The Surprise of Surprises: Members of the Two Tribes Having a Civil Discussion
In Custody
Cuffed Rather Than Zip Tied
That’s What Everyone Claims, Which is the Crux of the Problem
The Pro-Israeli Side of Amsterdam Avenue
Police Restraining Israeli Protester Outside of Columbia University (He Was Not Arrested)
Order Looking Down on Chaos From the Locked-Down Campus
Still Talking
Hopefully Both Israelis and Palestinians--a Joycean Interpolation from the West Village
Being detained or questioned by the police does not imply guilt of a crime or that anyone acted violently. Those pictured are deemed innocent until proven guilty in a court of the law. While the police appear to have arrested the individuals in police custody, it is not clear whether the individuals were simply detained for questioning or arrested.
Copyright 2024, Jack B. Siegel. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Alter, Copy, Display, Distribute, Download, Duplicate, or Reproduce Without the Prior Written Consent of the Copyright Holder.
