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Police Arrest Over 100 Pro-Palestine Students Protesting at Columbia University

US police have arrested more than 100 people, following pro-Palestine protests set up at New York’s Columbia University, in solidarity with Gaza.

The demonstrators took over the university’s South Lawn for 30 hours, according to Mayor Eric Adams.

“Columbia University’s students have a proud history of protests and raising their voices,” Adams said, but he said that they don’t have the right to violate university policies.

“We will not be a city of lawlessness,” Adams said.

Ilhan Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi, was also arrested and revealed that she was suspended for “standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide,” along with at least two other students, from neighboring Barnard University.

“Those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated,” Hirsi added.

Over 108 people were arrested and accused of trespassing and two were additionally charged with obstruction of governmental administration, according to authorities.

Columbia University’s president, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, said in a memo, “I have determined that the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University.” Shafik then claimed that the demonstrators were trespassing, “refusing to disperse and damaging campus property, among other violations.”

At a news conference by Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, which was held outside Columbia University President Minouche Shafik’s residence, student Layla Saliba condemned the clearing of the campus saying, “What happened today at Columbia University was an act of violence towards Arab, Muslim, Palestinian students, Jewish students and just anybody who supports Palestinian liberation,” she said.

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