College students across New York City are planning walkouts on Monday to commemorate the anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war, setting the stage for the first major test of new restrictions on speech and protests on campuses.
At Columbia University, security barriers were set up around campus and access was limited to only students and staff ahead of an expected walkout at 11:45 a.m.
Pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime has several demonstrations planned across the city, including one starting at 3:30 p.m. at Washington Square Park in the heart of NYU’s campus.
The events mark one year since Hamas militants attacked Israel, prompting Israel’s ongoing ground invasion and bombardment of Gaza. The conflict has widened into a broader conflict in the Middle East.
The demonstrations represent one of the first major gatherings since last spring, when a pro-Palestinian encampment that began at Columbia expanded to other campuses in the city and across the country. The academic year was thrown into chaos, with the NYPD arresting hundreds of people on local campuses during the protests, and graduation plans were upended.
In the lead-up to the anniversary on Monday, local universities have been trying to encourage peaceful dialogue on their campuses, while revising codes of conduct and setting up new limits on protests.
In an email to students and staff at Columbia on Sunday, interim President Katrina Armstrong said the university’s administrators have “anticipated and have been preparing for a period of uncertainty in the coming days.”
She said some groups have worked with university officials and school security to plan nonviolent protests and commemorations. Some Jewish groups had erected on the school’s lawn what appeared to be large milk cartons with photos of hostages taken by Hamas.
Armstrong said some other groups had not received permission for their demonstrations.
“We have also learned and had evidence of plans of groups not affiliated with Columbia choosing to come to our Morningside campus for activities that raise concern about the potential for violence,” she said.
The student walkout scheduled for late Monday morning in coordination with Within Our Lifetime was “not sanctioned,” Armstrong noted in her email.
Students participating in the walkout plan to merge with other protestors at more than a dozen sites throughout Manhattan, from Wall Street to Columbus Circle. Within Our Lifetime says it seeks to “uplift the Palestinian people resisting genocide by any means necessary.” Its cofounder, Nerdeen Kiswani, a Palestinian American CUNY Law School alum, supports the replacement of the state of Israel with one called Palestine.
Armstrong said Columbia students should expect an increased “public safety presence” for much of the week.
This is a developing story and may be updated.