Statement by the Solidarity National Committee
Posted April 29, 2024
On April 17, students at Columbia University in New York City, supported by sympathetic faculty, set up an encampment to protest the Israeli war on Gaza, and Columbia’s connection to Israeli Universities and corporations doing business with Israel, including arms sales. In the days that followed, protests and encampments spread to other colleges and universities from New England to Michigan to Texas and California. Over four dozen unions have passed resolutions in support of the students. The response of Columbia’s administration to the students’ peaceful protests was to call New York City police to clear the campus and arrest the protestors. Students have been disciplined and ordered to leave campus housing.
The protests take place against the backdrop of the ongoing assault by the Israeli IDF on Gaza that has killed at least 34,000 people, increased settler violence and IDF complicity against Palestinians in the West Bank, and preparations for an assault on the densely populated Rafah area. The Biden government continues to support Israel, refusing to call for an unconditional cease-fire and vetoing UN cease-fire resolutions.
Campus officials, pro-Israel billionaire donors, and reactionary politicians including the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, whose party has become a haven for far-right racists and antisemites of all stripes, have cynically and hypocritically called the protests antisemitic. Netanyahu has referred to the protesters as “antisemitic hordes.” While the mainstream press has routinely echoed the lie that the protests are antisemitic, there is no evidence that Jewish students have been targeted. On the contrary, the encampments have been welcoming spaces where Palestinian, Muslim, and Jewish students, including members of Jewish Voice for Peace, have joined with other students to oppose the genocide in Gaza.
Solidarity’s National Committee supports the student protestors and their aims and calls for immediate amnesty and the lifting of all penalties against protestors. We denounce the cynical labelling of pro-Palestinian protestors as antisemitic and call for protection for Palestinian and Muslim students.
Support the Student Pro-Palestine Movement!
Hands off the encampments!
Amnesty for all protestors!
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