Columbia University in New York City has cancelled its university-wide commencement ceremony after it cracked down on student protests in support of Palestinians, a campus movement that spurred a wave of similar demonstrations around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement on Monday morning, Columbia said it would prioritise \u201cClass Days and school-level ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, rather than the University-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision comes just days after the Columbia administration called New York City police onto campus to disperse students who had occupied a school building and erected a protest encampment to show solidarity with Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The students have demanded an end to Israel\u2019s war on the Gaza Strip and urged Columbia to divest from any companies that are complicit in Israeli abuses against Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Columbia protest encampment and subsequent crackdown by police \u2014 during which hundreds of people were arrested \u2014 inspired similar initiatives at universities across the United States, as well as in Canada, France and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
University administrators have accused pro-Palestinian demonstrators of using anti-Semitic language and creating an unsafe environment on campus. U.S. President Joe Biden made similar claims during a speech last week addressing the protest movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the demonstrators have rejected those allegations, saying the decision to send police officers to break up the Gaza encampments and arrest participants is what put students in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s Patty Culhane, reporting on Monday from a Gaza encampment at George Washington University in Washington, DC, said the protest there has \u201cdefinitely grown\u201d in recent days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s tent after tent of water or food, and signs saying, \u2018Everything is free just like Palestine will be one day,’\u201d Culhane said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mariam, a Jewish student demonstrator who spoke to Al Jazeera using only her first name, said anti-Semitism allegations are intended to divert attention from Gaza. \u201cIt\u2019s meant to take the focus away from the genocide in Gaza, and it is meant to take the focus away from our demands,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those demands include protecting pro-Palestinian speech on campus, divesting from the Israeli state and ending academic partnerships with Israeli institutions. \u201cWe are going to stay here,\u201d Mariam added. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what the police do, what the university administration does. We are going to keep fighting until our demands are met.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monday\u2019s announcement at Columbia also came as the Israeli military ordered Palestinians in eastern Rafah, part of the southern Gaza Strip, to leave the area before an expected ground assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said in a statement that a Rafah offensive \u201ccould lead to the deadliest phase of this conflict, inflicting horrific suffering on approximately 1.4 million displaced civilians in the area\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nearly 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since the war began in early October. Residents of the besieged coastal territory face a dire humanitarian crisis and a lack of food, water and medical supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRafah had become the last refuge for hundreds of thousands of families, deprived of any semblance of safety. With nowhere else to go, they are facing the threat of prolonged displacement and death,\u201d Egeland said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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