Columbia University: Dozens Arrested After Pro-Palestinian Protesters Occupy Library

New York police have arrested over 80 pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University after protesters occupied the historic Butler Library on campus.

The protest, led by the student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), was staged to demand that the university cut financial ties to organizations they say support Israeli military operations. The group renamed the library space the “Basel Al-Araj Popular University”, in tribute to a Palestinian writer killed by Israeli forces in 2017.

Wearing masks and keffiyehs, the protesters were eventually removed by the NYPD after refusing to vacate the premises. Columbia’s interim president, Claire Shipman, stated that law enforcement was called in when protesters ignored multiple warnings and two campus safety officers were injured.

Those arrested face charges including trespassing and failure to disperse.

The incident is part of a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on U.S. campuses in response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. The protests have sparked national debate, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for a review of the visa status of foreign students involved in the occupation, labeling them “pro-Hamas thugs.”

Tensions remain high on campuses across the country as students continue to demand institutional divestment and solidarity with Palestinians.