Students at Columbia University took over Hamilton Hall just after midnight after the school began suspending students who refused to leave the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which began almost two weeks ago. The hall was also the site of a historic student occupation in 1968. Students have renamed the building Hind Hall in honor of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
Police across the country are continuing to crack down on student protesters calling for an end to Israel’s assault on Gaza. In Texas, police made at least 100 arrests Monday at a student-led encampment at the University of Texas at Austin.
Earlier this morning, police raided an encampment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, arresting at least 25 people.
In California, officials at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt have closed the school’s campus for the rest of the semester in an effort to shut down a student occupation.
Meanwhile, at The New School in New York, students have expanded their protest by occupying the lobby of the Parsons School of Design. Students at the Fashion Institute of Technology are continuing their encampment in the school lobby, as well.
New protest encampments have begun at a number of schools, including the University of Chicago and the University of Oregon.
Campus protests against Israel’s assault on Gaza have also spread overseas, including Sorbonne University in Paris, where students said they were inspired by the protests at Columbia.
