6/20/2024–|Last updated: 6/20/202411:49 PM (Mecca time)
Today, Thursday, 46 students who took control of the Hamilton Building at Columbia University and staged a sit-in inside it late last April will appear before a New York court, before the New York Police broke up the sit-in and arrested all those who were inside the building.
Their appearance before the court – according to a statement issued by the students – came after they rejected a deal offered to them by the state prosecutor, describing the deal that was offered to them as aiming to disperse the pro-Palestine movement, according to what was stated in the statement.
The statement called on supporters of the movement in support of the Palestinians to gather in front of the court building, and to show their support and solidarity for those who will appear on trial today.
The student movement began at Columbia University on April 17, 2024, when a student coalition of more than 120 student organizations and faculty members organized a sit-in and set up their tents in the university’s garden surrounded by a fence. They said that they set them up in full respect of the law, so that officials would not accuse them of obstructing… Classroom.
From Columbia University, the demonstrations expanded in scope and reached more than 70 American universities, including Harvard, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and extended outside America, reaching universities in France, Britain, and Germany.
During those protests, the students called for an end to the Israeli war on Gaza, an end to the cooperation of their university administrations with Israeli universities, the withdrawal of their investments from companies that support the occupation, and allowing them freedom of expression.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, leaving tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded – most of them children and women – and massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly, according to Palestinian and UN data.
Israel continues its war despite the issuance of an immediate ceasefire resolution by the Security Council, and despite its appearance before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing “genocide crimes.”
