CUAD CONDEMNS BILLIONAIRE LOBBYING | COMMENCEMENT DISRUPTIONS | FACULTY AND STAFF SOLIDARITY | PALESTINE UPDATE

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY APARTHEID DIVEST CONDEMNS BILLIONAIRE LOBBYING TO BRUTALIZE PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTERS

The revelation that a group of billionaires and “business titans” conspired with Israeli officials to pressure Mayor Eric Adams and Columbia University President, Minouche Shafik and Columbia’s Board of Trustees to send police to our campus to disperse anti-war protests is disturbing and potentially illegal. The involvement of private investigators is an unacceptable intrusion into our campus life. We are outraged by the blatant disregard for our right to protest against the genocide of our people in Gaza.

Twice in less than two weeks and for the first time since 1968, the Columbia administration brought the NYPD to brutalize peaceful protesters. When Mayor Adams unleashed 600 cops upon Columbia on April 30, they threw flashbang grenades at unarmed protesters, accidentally fired a handgun, and face-stomped a student hard enough to fracture an eye socket. Outside the gates, cops crushed one student’s hand, seized a cane from another disabled student, and jeered: “If you’re disabled, then don’t get arrested.” Although Mayor Adams claimed there were “no injuries,” several protesters were hospitalized, and women had their hijabs torn off after being arrested (against NYPD policy). Thirty blocks uptown, the NYPD tased and pepper sprayed protesters at City College, smashing teeth and breaking an ankle. 

We were also appalled to see the NYPD brutally assault protesters who attended the annual Nakba day commemoration in Bay Ridge led by Within Our Lifetime. We note with interest that the NYPD began to attack pro-Palestine demonstrations in New York City in late October; the Washington Post reported that the billionaire WhatsApp was created around October 12. 

We can only assume that all of this police violence came at the request of Eric Adams’ patrons. We find this ironic given that the Mayor smeared us as “outside agitators” (a claim echoed by Journalism school Dean Jelani Cobb on MSNBC). 

We were already disappointed by the abrupt termination of negotiations by the Columbia Administration and their persistence to bring police into campus, but the revelations of this article shed light on the external influences that have driven such a hostile decision by Minouche Shafik. 

In addition to our campaign for divestment and financial transparency, we call for an immediate halt to any and all further police presence on our campus, and we condemn all police attacks against the movement for Palestinian liberation.

The influence that these “business titans” wield over our university’s administration and Mayor Adams reveal a concerning intersection of money and power. It also seems that foreign agents directly lobbied Mayor Adams. The chat logs reveal that some members of the billionaire group attended private briefings with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz, and Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog. 

Under U.S. law, foreign entities and governments are prohibited from directly influencing domestic political activities and public opinion, particularly in a manner that suppresses constitutional rights such as freedom of speech and assembly. The fact that Israeli officials were involved in strategic discussions to influence U.S. public opinion and suppress campus protests raises serious questions about potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and other federal laws (e.g. against bribery). We see this as connected to the recent news that Rana Abbasova will cooperate with a federal investigation into Adams’ campaign donations. 

We demand transparency and accountability from Columbia University’s administration and Mayor Adams. We also demand transparency about any communications or meetings between the Columbia administration and any of these “business titans.” We urge the Columbia administration to take meaningful steps to protect our safety and right to protest. 

Our voices will not be silenced by intimidation or violence. We stand united in our commitment to Palestinian liberation. 

COLUMBIA COMMENCEMENT: CAPS, GOWNS, AND KEFFIYEHS 

While President Shafik canceled the main campus commencement out of fear of united student action, students from all graduating classes found ways to disrupt their smaller school graduation ceremonies. Students walked across the stage in zip ties like those the NYPD used to lacerate the wrists of arrested students over the previous weeks. One student shredded her diploma on stage. Another student held up a Palestinian flag that read “DIVEST NOW 40,000 DEAD.” Many students crossed the stage in keffiyehs and Palestinian flags to loud cheers and chants from the audience. 

School of Social Work student rips up diploma on stage

One student raised the Palestinian flag with "Divest" painted on it in bold letters as she walked across the stage. She said she looked for her parents in the audience, who did not know of the students' plans to disrupt. She reflected, "I was raised in a Chinese immigrant household that valued education above all else. 'It is a method of survival,' my parents once told me." The student remarked that for those in Gaza, that method has been destroyed. "Not only have universities been wiped out, but also grade schools, libraries, family homes, and every other place people can receive their learning in a brutal act of scholasticide."

One student who walked out of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences PhD graduation described the action, "Right as the ceremony started, we stood up, turned our backs to the podium, put our keffiyehs on, and chanted for divestment, and a free Palestine. We walked out under the applause and cheers of what seemed like the majority of our fellow graduates - some of whom walked the graduation stage only to wave their keffiyehs." The student went on to say, "The only pride I'll carry going away from Columbia will be that of my union, and the historic movement propelled by our students."

A student from the School of Social Work held up a photo of 6-year-old Hind Rajab, for whom Hind's Hall was named, wearing her graduation cap and gown. The student explained, "She was all I could think about. I thought about how she would have walked a stage for elementary, middle, high school, and college graduations and will never be able to. How she, just like me, was a little girl full of hopes and dreams, and nothing made me more deserving than her. It felt that there was nothing more important than to remind myself and everyone watching what this fight is about: ending the slaughter and genocide of every single child like Hind and all their loved ones." 

Spineless Shafik did not show up for any commencement ceremony—she knows she is hated and that the students and faculty don’t support her. Whoever doesn’t have the support of the people doesn’t have much at all, because the people are the ones that make the world turn. Today her only support comes from the board of trustees, and as soon as she stops being a useful shield for them they’ll just throw her out and find a new face. That’s alright with us—they can keep going through their figureheads, they can keep thinking each new person or concession will slow us down. But we won’t stop fighting for our demands regardless of who is representing the school because we know that the problem is not this or that representative of the school, but the functioning of the school itself to churn profits through genocides and displacements while selling students degrees on the side. 

The school is praying that our movement has lost steam, that our members have all graduated and moved on. But we know that even with the summer, even with graduation, we’ll only grow stronger—now we’ll have more “outside agitators” to help us next semester who can’t receive disciplinary action; now we have the opportunity to be “outside agitators” in actions across the city and across the country wherever our members end up, making more connections and strengthening the links of the movement in solidarity with Palestinian liberation. Our summer, our alums, our suspended and expelled students—these will water the seeds of our movement to reach new heights in the fall.

COLUMBIA FACULTY AND STAFF STAND WITH STUDENTS: NO BUSINESS AS USUAL

On Tuesday, May 14, the Amsterdam gates of Columbia University echoed with the voices of solidarity and resistance as faculty and staff from Columbia, Barnard, Teachers College, and the School of Social Work hosted a Staff Speak-Out rally. Their demands were clear and urgent: divestment from genocide, the removal of police from campus, and amnesty for students targeted for pro-Palestine demonstrations.

The rally was a testament to the growing solidarity between students, faculty, and staff, emphasizing the collective power needed to achieve victory. Several faculty and staff called for a vote of no confidence in President Shafik, echoing the vote at Barnard, where the measure won support from 77% of the participating faculty.

Impassioned speeches from professors, librarians, and other staff members resonated through the crowd. They spoke of their profound shame and disgust toward the university’s actions and their unwavering commitment to stand with students in the struggle for justice. Their words were not just expressions of outrage but pledges of action. The sentiment among the speakers was unanimous: there can be no business as usual while Columbia continues to profit from genocide. They vowed to increase financial pressure on Columbia, with calls for a strike until their demands are met, demonstrating the lengths they are willing to go to ensure their voices are heard and their demands are addressed.

The Staff Speak-Out was a powerful demonstration of unity and a call to action. The faculty, staff, and students of Columbia and its affiliated institutions are making it clear to the administration that they are united with students in the fight for divestment, disclosure, and amnesty.

Below is a speech read aloud on at the rally that was written by a former staff member of Columbia University who was unjustly fired for supporting the Palestinian solidarity movement on campus:

My name is Clara. Until last Friday, I worked as a support staff person at Columbia University with UAW 2110. Columbia targeted me for firing and repression because I was arrested on April 18th in defense of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Administrators within Arts and Sciences went against the wishes of my colleagues, supervisors, and department in order to target and punish me for daring to question their investments in genocidal profiteering by Israel.

I loved my job and fought to keep it. But Columbia went out of their way to fire me anyway, throwing the rules of my contract out the window and ignoring basic processes of union arbitrations. 

In fact, when administration launched their campaign against me, as a part of broader retaliation against my fellow staff for Palestine, they never even issued me a written statement of my suspension or gave an exact reason as to why I was fired at all beyond “extreme misconduct.” The only meeting held to investigate my conduct lasted fewer than 10 minutes.

During my arrest, I alerted my boss via text like I would with any other emergency. I took PTO for the 3.5 hours of work I missed, and returned to work on time the next morning despite being zip tied for 7 hours and held in jail until 8:30PM the night before. I had no prior discipline, and good performance evaluations.

Columbia is barely trying to hide their retaliation against pro-Palestine speech. If I had called out of work for a 3.5 hour emergency of any other kind, I simply would not have been fired. My union stewards with 25 years of experience arbitrating against labor violations by Columbia are shocked, and have never seen a case like mine.

Now my coworkers and workplace are reeling in my absence. The professors and PhDs whom I worked with daily still have not even been formally notified of my firing. Our entire department is suffering, just so Columbia can make an example out me.

Columbia University, here’s what I have to say to you: 
You can take away my job, deprive me of health insurance, and violate every labor law in my contract and you STILL will NEVER stop me from speaking out against your investments in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians.

You have strengthened my resolve to do exactly what you set out to do: make an example out me. But I will not be an example of repression and humiliation. I will be an example of perseverance and collective power. Me and my community of incredible staff for Palestine will make an example out of YOU Columbia.

Every time you have brutalized students, staff and faculty for Palestine, we have come back stronger than you ever imagined.

We made an example out of you when you tried to throw our movement in jail, and instead ignited the global Student Intifada. Now we will make an example out you again. We will prove that when you come for one of your workers, you come for ALL of us. 

Thanks to you, Columbia, the Labor Intifada has now begun.

We reached out to the rally's organizers for a comment, and a faculty organizer sent us the statement below:

While focused on campus issues, Tuesday’s rally resonates with the universal struggle for liberation, in this moment, a call for immediate ceasefire and for Palestinian freedom. Our actions- from demanding a vote of no confidence to advocating for the rights and reinstatement of students and calling for the withdrawal of NYPD from our campus- illustrate a commitment to principles of justice, mutual respect, and community engagement. These are not just local concerns but fundamental to any movement seeking liberation from oppressive structures. I refer to two historic callings in my personal and professional life. The first, from Fannie Lou Hamer, is that “no one is free until everyone is free.” This is a reminder that each of our protests is linked to global struggles for dignity and autonomy. The second, from Lila Watson, urges “if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” The rally is not about helping others. It’s about recognizing that my liberation, our liberation, is intertwined with that of the Palestinians and all oppressed peoples. We stand together advocating for a world where every community can shape its own destiny and true freedom and justice are not ideals but realities. Tuesday's action sought to join and to grow those by CUAD and others this year as a declaration that we will not stand by while rights are trampled and lives diminished. It is in our hands to create a world where justice is not an aspiration but a reality.

To all faculty, staff, and grad workers who would like to participate in the strike you can sign up here. Staff members who would like to support can also sign this referendum. Remember: do not use your Columbia email.

UPDATES ON PALESTINE

Beginning on May 28, Ireland, Norway, and Spain will join 143 countries in recognizing Palestine as an independent state while Germany and Poland have announced their support for a two-state solution. Such concessions, however, are only meant to bring about "stability" and "peace" to the Middle East—a stability and peace that allow imperialism to continue in its unabated oppression and exploitation with minimal disturbance. A Palestinian state under the tutelage of Western imperialism and subordinated to the interests of Israel—much like the Palestinian Authority today—is not real liberation, but a sham concession meant to strengthen imperialism and give Israel a respite. There can be no free Palestine as long as it borders the fascist genocidal state of Israel.

The International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Karim Khan, has requested warrants for the arrest of Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in a largely symbolic move, given that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over Israel. Among the charges is the use of "starvation as a weapon of warfare". Israel has caused the starvation of Gaza by blocking off aid reception in critical, densely populated areas as well as systematically dismantling existing aid networks, leading to widespread famine. ICC Prosecutor Khan has also issued warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh for "war crimes and war crimes against humanity committed in Israel and the state of Palestine". This decision ignores the historical mistreatment and decades of documented crimes committed against Palestinians while falsely equating the just struggle of Palestinians with the depraved terrorism of the Israelis. Justice has not been served.

The Palestinian death toll continues to rise as Israel continues its genocidal operation. In the refugee camp of Jenin, located in the West Bank, Israeli Occupation Forces opened fire killing eight people and wounding twelve. Israeli forces have expanded their violent invasion of Rafah, advancing into densely populated neighborhoods. Residents have reported that tanks took position further west on the edge of the Yibna neighborhood on Wednesday, May 22 and firing occurred overnight. Over 900,000 people in Rafah have fled. UNRWA has paused food aid operations in Rafah because of lack of supplies entering the critical Rafah and Karim Shalom crossings due to continued IOF bombardment. The WHO says that 200 patients have been trapped inside northern Gaza's last two functioning hospitals after Israeli forces besieged it. According to UNRWA, 75 percent of Gaza's population has been forcibly displaced, many people having been displaced up to five times--a form of torture and psychological violence Palestinians are experiencing at the hands of Israeli Occupation Forces. While the IOF continues to aggress against the Palestinians, resistance forces have dealt the IOF an increasing number of blows both from within Gaza and the West Bank as well as other parts of the region, including Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq. Everywhere the IOF goes they find themselves in hostile territory, constantly rebuked by the brave fighters who defend their homeland.

LONG LIVE THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL RESISTANCE

FREE PALESTINE FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA WITHIN OUR LIFETIME

GLORY TO ALL THE MARTYRS