City College of New York becomes latest site of heated pro-Palestinian demonstrations

CUNY students are calling for the university system to divest from Israel, ban partnerships and trips to Israel such as Birthright and Fulbright programs, reverse student and faculty disciplinary action related to pro-Palestinian activism and remove police from campus.

They also called on CUNY to release a statement “affirming the right of the Palestinian people to national liberation and the right of return,” and to make CUNY tuition-free.

“We demand a fully-funded, free CUNY that is not beholden to zionist and imperialist private donors,” the students wrote.

Throughout the afternoon, students shouted chants like, “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.” Some of them were skipping their plans for spring break, which runs through Tuesday, to be at the encampment.

“Frankly, I can’t really relax in a time like this,” said Andrew Shapiro, a PhD sociology candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center and part-time faculty member at Hunter College, who is Jewish. “I have not felt like I could relax comfortably, like I can be a student normally. Nothing feels normal as an ongoing genocide is happening, allegedly in my name.”

“People were away and they flew back in,” said Hadeeqa Arzoo, a student at City College. “They flew from home to be here, and I think that speaks volumes to what this means for many people.”

Arzoo, who’s majoring in political science and international relations, said the encampment at Columbia “really lit a fire under us” that could not be delayed until after the break. CUNY officials had not engaged in any negotiations as of Thursday afternoon, she noted.

“As of right now, we’re seeing what happens,” Arzoo said. “Because we’re not moving. We’re not gonna be intimidated into silence. We’re here.”

Meanwhile in Chelsea, students set up a similar encampment inside the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Demonstrators stormed into The Museum at FIT on W. 27th St. and Seventh Ave., Fox News reported. Video shows scores of people pushing through the doors, where a security guard worked to pull them closed but was overtaken.

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