Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian Protests at Columbia University Campus on Monday Mark One Year Since October 7, 2023
(Photo/Andrew Tseng)
By Paras Abbasi
On the morning of October 7, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters stood at Low Plaza, separated by metal barricades. Pro-Israel students staged “Columbia United against Terror” protest whereas pro-Palestinian students staged a walkout organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) as part of city-wide call by Within Our Lifetime–a Palestinian community-led organization–to demonstrate. The protests marked one year since the events of October 7.
Early in the morning, pro-Israel students had set up huge milk cartons as art installation with the names, photos, and ages of people killed or taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023. One of the organizers told The Morningside Post that the art exhibit would be open the entire week from 10 AM to 4 PM and will be open for students to join. The art installation has been set up on the west side of South Lawn, the same location where pro-Palestinian students had held the second “Gaza Solidarity Encampment”, last spring.
The art installation, and vigil, held at Lerner Hall at 6 PM, was organized by Columbia Students Supporting Israel, Columbia/Barnard Hillel, Chabad at Columbia, and Columbia Aryeh along with Israeli and Jewish affiliates at Columbia.
(Photo/Andrew Tseng)
There was heavy security on campus following Interim University President Katrina Armstrong's announcement in an email on October 6 which said that the administration would be “increasing public safety presence across campus.” In addition, no guests were allowed to enter following the ‘Restricted’ security status of the campus.
Pro-Palestinian students stationed themselves at Low Plaza around 11 AM and continued their daily vigil by reading the names of over 50,000 Palestinians killed by Israel since October 7, 2023. This was followed by a walkout which was joined by hundreds of students at Low Plaza around 11:45 AM.
Armstrong in her email had called the walkout “not sanctioned” as it was not registered “through the process established by the Guidelines to the Rules of University Conduct.”
(Photo/Andrew Tseng)
While the pro-Israeli students held Israeli and American flags and chanted slogans, such as “Bring them home” and “We are Jewish, we are proud, we are going to be loud,” pro-Palestinian students chanted slogans of “Free free Palestine”, “We will honor all our martyrs”, “Viva viva Palestina”, “There is only one solution, Intifada revolution,” amongst others. The students who participated in the walkout organized by CUAD circled around the campus in huge numbers after leaving the Low Steps around 1 PM. By that time, the pro-Israel demonstration had ended.
Student protestors were seen covering their faces with masks, shades, kuffieyhs, Palestinian flags and scarves as they left the campus to join the wider protest organized by Within Our Lifetime. Students covered their faces at CUAD’s instructions to be “protected and covered from surveillance.”
Paras Abbasi (MPA ‘25) is the Managing Editor for The Morningside Post.