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jamesmovies
  • 6/1/2025
Transcript
00:00:00Why do you think these encampments cause such an intense response from some of the most powerful people in the world?
00:00:30Thank you all for being here today, we have several members of Congress here, throughout history, Columbia students have contributed to the great storybook of America's life and thought, the cherished traditions of this university are being overtaken right now by radical and extreme ideologies.
00:01:00Anti-Israeli campus are popping up in universities all across this country.
00:01:08We're here to discuss the little Gazas that have risen up on campuses across America.
00:01:14These little Gazas are disgusting cesspools of anti-Semitic hate, full of pro-Hamas sympathizers, fanatics and freaks.
00:01:22There was a very concerned effort on behalf of members of the media to portray things assertively and refuse, refuse to discuss Gaza.
00:01:35They see something on TikTok and they're like, Israel bad and Hamas good.
00:01:40Can you believe they are chanting about the infatata in New York City?
00:01:44I really believe they are brainwashed.
00:01:46I mean, this is literally like a demonstration in Tehran.
00:01:48This is terrorism.
00:01:49The war on terror has gotten to U.S. campuses.
00:01:52The universities are materially invested in the genocide of Gaza through their connections to companies that manufacture the weapons or that operate illegally throughout occupied Palestine.
00:02:13We don't want our money to go towards Palestinian death.
00:02:17We don't want our money to go towards Palestinian death.
00:02:47There weren't a lot of human rights programs in the United States.
00:02:59Columbia University had the best.
00:03:00It had a good name.
00:03:02And not only that, it was a home to a lot of scholarship that I looked up to that I thought I would benefit from.
00:03:08I started at Columbia University and almost immediately afterwards, October 7 happened.
00:03:14And then I didn't really have time to think about how I would be involved in the Palestinian movement.
00:03:19I just had to be involved.
00:03:21The other option was to be paralyzed and depressed.
00:03:23Before October 7, the university was cracking down on Palestinian activism on campus.
00:03:39They pushed a certain narrative, a narrative that's supporting Israel, that's vilifying the Palestinians.
00:03:45And October 7 just gave them more opportunity to crack down more and more on us.
00:03:50Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, which are the main forces organizing amongst undergraduates for Justice in Palestine,
00:04:11ended up being banned because of the university saying that they had violated certain campus policies around demonstration.
00:04:19I am a Jewish student here to say, when Columbia speaks of Jewish safety,
00:04:25it seems that they only mean to protect Jewish students who support Israel or are silent in their dissent.
00:04:34In this suspension, Columbia has made it very clear that they don't care about their students nor their speech.
00:04:42The only thing they care about protecting right now is their pocketbook.
00:04:55The endowment of Columbia is roughly $14 billion.
00:04:59Columbia has an investment company which kind of manages where those investments go.
00:05:03Around 90%, if not more, are indirect investments, so they're stocks or they're held in companies like BlackRock,
00:05:11and students have no access to what those are or are denied access based on their viewpoint,
00:05:17even though the university says that that isn't the case.
00:05:19We do know that Columbia University has investments in General Electric, has ties to Lockheed Martin,
00:05:28and other companies that either produce weapons or produce information technology for the occupation army.
00:05:37The priority demand was divestment.
00:05:40Underneath divestment was the boycott demand and disclosure.
00:05:46Divestment is not difficult.
00:05:47Well, the university has divested from private prisons.
00:05:50The university also divested from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
00:05:57But of course nobody paid attention because it's exactly in line with U.S. geopolitical interests.
00:06:04The bigger the endowment, the more you are beholden to your donors.
00:06:08To break with Israel would make a lot of these donors very mad.
00:06:17The board of trustees make the important decisions about the direction of the university.
00:06:30They get the final say on whether a divestment happens.
00:06:32People on the board of trustees are people like Jay Johnson, who is simultaneously on the board of trustees of Lockheed Martin.
00:06:44If you're on the board of trustees of a weapons manufacturer, then you care that that weapons manufacturer makes profit.
00:06:51You care that there is war enough, death enough, killing enough that you can use your weapons.
00:06:57The genocide didn't start on October 7th, neither did the propocity movement generally on campus.
00:07:05Students had already pushed divestment referendums in previous years.
00:07:09We had voted on divestment referendums at various colleges within Colombia.
00:07:13Yet all of them passed.
00:07:15It is out of two.
00:07:22Immediately the president sent out an email saying we don't have actual general consensus amongst the student body or amongst our community.
00:07:29In which they include in the community, the Columbia alumni.
00:07:34Free, free Palestine!
00:07:36Free, free Palestine!
00:07:38Free, free, free Palestine!
00:07:40Free, free, free Palestine!
00:07:41Free, free, free Palestine!
00:07:43What do we want?
00:07:44Justice!
00:07:45What do we want it?
00:07:46Now!
00:07:47We had done everything we could think of.
00:07:50We did peaceful protest that was ignored.
00:07:53We did strategic interruptions that was ignored and punished.
00:07:57Students had written up this whole divestment proposal saying that it is not only possible but would be easy and that was just dismissed out of hand.
00:08:06They changed all the protest rules.
00:08:08They wouldn't approve any of our events.
00:08:11They would just criminalize anyone who would participate in a protest.
00:08:15If they were just going to ignore us then we had to do something that couldn't possibly be ignored by the administration.
00:08:45The first hours of the encampment were just so peaceful.
00:08:48It was almost anticlimactic.
00:08:51It felt like they were just completely taken by surprise.
00:09:00That day, April 17, was Colombia's president, Manu Shafiq, her congressional hearing on antisemitism.
00:09:07It was also less than a month away from graduation.
00:09:10So there were a lot of pressure points that the students had considered.
00:09:15It really felt like a win insofar as it had sort of interrupted the normal functionings of the university.
00:09:20And they were on their back foot in terms of what they could do to stop us.
00:09:28What is it saying?
00:09:29You can read it.
00:09:30Here you go.
00:09:31I thought you might provide some more information as you're walking up to the appnet.
00:09:35Oh, the information's all here.
00:09:37And this is exactly what was said to you earlier.
00:09:39So, um, so could you perhaps explain why we're being subject to interim suspension
00:09:44or a violation of a demonstration policy for which the stated punishment is a written warning.
00:09:50So everything is stated in the letter for you.
00:09:52So I'm going to encourage you to read it.
00:09:53You actually don't sign any of the rules by their, how they appear.
00:09:57I'm just going to encourage you to read the letters.
00:09:59Okay?
00:10:00I'm looking at it.
00:10:01I'm looking at the answers to these questions.
00:10:02Oh, we, so earlier I was here and I encouraged you all to come talk with me at any time.
00:10:06So I'm happy to have that conversation now.
00:10:07You're here with us.
00:10:08I don't know.
00:10:09We can have a conversation to decide if you'd like to.
00:10:12Excuse me.
00:10:13Why do you need to hide it from the students that you're threatening with suspension?
00:10:17This is not a threat.
00:10:18We're giving you a letter that's providing some information.
00:10:21No.
00:10:22I've got to read them.
00:10:24What does that say?
00:10:26Um, so basically...
00:10:29Basically, it's telling us to disperse that we have an unauthorized encampment and disruption
00:10:37on Columbia's campus.
00:10:38So basically, they're telling everybody that there's going to be an interim measure of
00:10:42suspending us.
00:10:43Now, they're accusing us of violating a policy for which the punishment is a written warning
00:10:49on your first offense.
00:10:50All we are doing here is practicing our First Amendment right in what the university has
00:10:55designated the protest zone on campus.
00:10:58Uh, so the idea that any of us could be interim suspended, which requires a danger to the
00:11:02community, specifically in the code of conduct, a physical danger to the community, is absurd.
00:11:08People are singing songs and weeping and protesting because it's our loved ones in Palestine that are dying.
00:11:23We're here for the Muslims, the Palestinians who are dying right now as we speak.
00:11:40Because Gaza is burning.
00:11:41And we hold the privilege in our hands.
00:11:42So don't forget it for a second.
00:11:43And don't let any of those people, don't let any of these administrators tell you otherwise.
00:11:47Don't let public safety or NYPD fear monger you or intimidate you or scyter you.
00:12:13Israel has destroyed every single university in Gaza.
00:12:43Israel has destroyed every single university in Gaza.
00:13:10The most important role in any mother is the young woman who is famous,
00:13:14who will lead to the construction of her building.
00:13:16Israel is the most important role in the schools and the universities,
00:13:20and the cultural institutions, and the cultural institutions,
00:13:24and the cultural institutions, and the cultural institutions.
00:13:26The most important role in any mother is the education.
00:13:34Israel is 17.
00:13:36Israel is...
00:13:37Israel has destroyed it.
00:13:40The International Court of Justice accepted South Africa's claims that this was plausibly a genocide
00:13:55and ordered Israel to stop all genocidal acts, an order that it has destroyed.
00:14:00No armed attack on a state territory, no matter how serious,
00:14:05even an attack involving atrocity crimes can provide any justification for breaches to the Convention.
00:14:14Israel's response to the 7th of October 2023 attack has crossed this line.
00:14:20I think there are people in Israel for whom genocide is a plan.
00:14:25They think that if they inflict enough suffering on Palestinians in Gaza,
00:14:30there is enough death that the Palestinians will leave and depart, and the land will be finally clear of them and Israel can take it over.
00:14:39We came here with one clear purpose. The purpose is to settle the entire Gaza Strip.
00:14:48I don't care about the prisoners, I don't care about the victims, no matter what they do.
00:14:54I don't care about the people in Israel, in the country, in Israel.
00:14:59I don't think there's someone in the state of Israel who needs to be a
00:15:16We were traumatized by a lot of people.
00:15:41If you can enter the camp, please join us!
00:15:46We need you to pull out your phone
00:15:52and call every motherfucker on this campus!
00:16:05And my community is right at the gates
00:16:11In riot year
00:16:13In riot year
00:16:14Trying to sweep the encampment
00:16:17Trying to sweep the encampment
00:16:19The entire encampment
00:16:28The entire encampment
00:16:29The entire encampment
00:16:31Voted unanimously
00:16:33Voted unanimously
00:16:35That we will not leave
00:16:37That we will not leave
00:16:39Until we win
00:16:41Until we win
00:16:43Until we win
00:16:44All of our demands
00:16:45All of our demands
00:16:47They want to wear us out
00:16:51They want to depend on us going home
00:16:53They want to depend on us giving up
00:16:55But that will not happen
00:16:57The only weapon they have is fear
00:17:02And we call their motherfucking block
00:17:05They have nothing!
00:17:11Hope is a discipline
00:17:13Hope is our most powerful weapon!
00:17:16Dear Palestine
00:17:18In our hearts
00:17:19There is nothing
00:17:20That can stop us
00:17:21For Hussah!
00:17:22For Palestine!
00:17:24With love!
00:17:25This once prestigious university's reputation
00:17:44Is just going down the toilet
00:17:46Because of all of the anti-semitism
00:17:49That's flourishing on campus
00:17:51I think one of the excellent recommendations
00:17:53To our anti-semitism task force
00:17:55Is that they have said
00:17:56That if you are going to chant
00:17:59It should only be in a certain place
00:18:01So people who don't want to hear it
00:18:03Are protected from having to hear it
00:18:05When mobs or people are shouting
00:18:07From the river to the sea
00:18:09Palestine must be free
00:18:11Or long live the Infantata
00:18:13Are those anti-semitic statements?
00:18:16Yes or no?
00:18:17It's not how you feel
00:18:18It's...
00:18:19I hear them as such
00:18:20Some people don't
00:18:22We have sent a clear message
00:18:23So is that yes
00:18:24So is that yes
00:18:25That is anti-semitic behavior
00:18:27And you should be
00:18:29There should be some consequences
00:18:30To that anti-semitic behavior
00:18:32We're in agreement
00:18:33Yes?
00:18:34Yes
00:18:35Thank you
00:18:36I yield my time
00:18:38We are prepared to bring you back
00:18:41To that
00:18:42If we don't see
00:18:43More tangible progress
00:18:46And
00:19:04Which of you
00:19:06You
00:19:08the people united
00:19:10will never feed the penis
00:19:12the people united
00:19:14don't lose
00:19:16we will kill
00:19:26let them go
00:19:28let them go
00:19:30let them go
00:19:32let them go
00:19:34let them go
00:19:36There was a lot of confusion in the moment.
00:19:51I didn't really know what to do except make sure that we had evidence.
00:20:03They just arrested our first crew.
00:20:06We have countless people prepared to take their place in the achievement.
00:20:13We have countless people prepared to take their place.
00:20:16Letting the other lot!
00:20:18Let's go!
00:20:19Let's go!
00:20:21We will not let this stop!
00:20:24We will not let this stop!
00:20:29We will not let this stop!
00:20:33We will not let this stop!
00:20:36Let's go!
00:20:40No! No! No!
00:21:10Free, free, free, free, free, free, free!
00:21:15Free, free, free, free, free, free, free!
00:21:36All of our main organizers had been arrested
00:21:39and there really wasn't enough people to fill in the space when the second encampment did begin
00:21:45it began with community members who we didn't know and they didn't really know us very well
00:21:55the presence of the community was really what allowed for the longevity of the encampment
00:22:09i found myself in palestine for some time and that led to i think my further politicization
00:22:35i was all throughout the west bank so i was actually based in al-khali hebron but i had
00:22:43the opportunity to travel throughout jerusalem janine nablus the thing that hurt me most was
00:22:50how constrained life is under occupation the conditions of life create just perpetual squashing
00:22:58of people i had friends who were born and raised in parts of hebron that are currently occupied by
00:23:08settlers who have witnessed their closest family members being murdered
00:23:12who's parents fear for them knowing that they're in vicinity to settlers
00:23:31who haven't been able to visit jerusalem who haven't been able to see al-aqsa which is so so important to
00:23:37palestinian people despite the fact that tourists like myself can visit whenever we wish
00:23:44i left with a lot of messages from friends that i had made in palestine who asked to not be forgotten
00:23:59perhaps
00:24:07um
00:24:13We've tried to come to a middle ground with the administration to protect the safety of
00:24:37the students to prevent the NYPD from coming into campus, yet the university refused to do that.
00:24:53We were in one police plaza, which is where they put all the people arrested for protest
00:24:57violations.
00:25:02There was all these reporters swarming around who were like, wow, well, hey, we did the thing.
00:25:07We got a great image, this was a really powerful protest, and I remember my arresting officer
00:25:13came out.
00:25:14He was like, you know, free my man, free my man.
00:25:15It's like, you're a police officer.
00:25:16You can't say free my man if you're the person who arrested me, but he's like, hey, you did
00:25:21a good thing, young man.
00:25:22Like, you're famous now.
00:25:23I had no idea what this guy was talking about.
00:25:25I was like, was this big news?
00:25:27Did something big happen?
00:25:28Pro-Palestinian protests are spreading at college campuses in the United States and around
00:25:33the globe.
00:25:34I was seeing all these other encampments just popping off around the country.
00:25:40I felt tremendously proud, but also quite anxious that we had been given this very historical
00:25:46task to try to advance the struggle in some small way, a significant way.
00:25:50When we were all in jail, I don't think any of us really could have imagined the scope.
00:25:57people really wanted to know, like, how they could get things up and running, how they
00:26:02could start an encampment.
00:26:03It resonated a lot with the students because I think it gave them a really concrete and
00:26:09direct way to place pressure in order to advance the Palestinian struggle.
00:26:14The student movement really breathed life back into the larger movement for Palestine.
00:26:20The students in deep water continues.
00:26:23We are undeterred.
00:26:24We do everything we do for Palestine with Gaza as the heart.
00:26:32After six months of mass protests and organizing, it was this encampment at Columbia that changed
00:26:38the whole terrain.
00:26:39I think that is for several reasons.
00:26:41Media loves talking about campuses.
00:26:43How could students at an Ivy League college be arrested on their own campus?
00:26:48On the other side, their parents work in CNN or work at Fox News or work at the UN or
00:26:53the State Department.
00:26:54This is the future generation.
00:26:56And the future generation is risking arrest, suspension, expulsion for Palestine.
00:27:02They were terrified about what these encampments represented for the future of this country.
00:27:07This is virtue signaling for white, woke kids that have no idea what they're talking about.
00:27:13Young people are being influenced by those who are professional and radicalizing our children.
00:27:19People that are aggressive, that are skewing hate.
00:27:22It is raw hatred towards Jews.
00:27:25Anti-Semitic mobs have taken over leading universities.
00:27:28This is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s.
00:27:32We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent.
00:27:36But order must prevail.
00:27:38Those individuals need to be deported immediately.
00:27:40There is an appropriate time for the National Guard.
00:27:42This may be Biden's Vietnam.
00:27:45But the sad part about it is, if the numbers are changing, they're having an impact.
00:27:51Bravery is very contagious.
00:28:05We kind of watched Colombia in awe.
00:28:08And we knew we were next.
00:28:10Viva, viva, Valentina!
00:28:12Viva, viva, Valentina!
00:28:14Viva, viva, Valentina!
00:28:16Viva, viva, Valentina!
00:28:17No one expected it to be as big as it was.
00:28:20And it got big fast.
00:28:22The sheer joy of community that I felt.
00:28:27For the first time since October 7th, I felt so happy.
00:28:32Knowing that Colombia's in an encampment, and Georgia State's in an encampment,
00:28:36and San Diego State's in an encampment.
00:28:38Feeling that every university came together to say this is wrong,
00:28:40and we are going to sit here until it's fixed.
00:28:46I remember feeling very happy to see that a lot of the students were not Palestinian.
00:28:54And it was very inspiring.
00:28:56It kind of gave me the kick that I needed to keep going.
00:28:58To see how many people in there were saying,
00:29:00I just learned about this, I'm sorry, but I'm here.
00:29:03There is hope.
00:29:16Yo, we got Yale holding it down right now on live. Make some noise.
00:29:26And as they continue their encampment, we will continue as well. So be loud.
00:29:31Y'all can be louder. Let's go.
00:29:33I don't think, I didn't think that, I don't think that actually took, now it's rewinding.
00:29:52Sorry, should I really fuck you?
00:29:56How are you saying something and then you're doing something different?
00:30:00Yeah, that's what I did.
00:30:03Sorry, I did it too fast.
00:30:05Can we do an Egyptian song?
00:30:07Ay, ay, ay, ay.
00:30:10Canta y no llores.
00:30:14Porque cantando se alegra.
00:30:17Que lindo, lindo los corazones.
00:30:22Ay, ay, ay, ay.
00:30:26Canta y no llores.
00:30:29Porque cantando se alegra.
00:30:31Cielito lindo, los corazones.
00:30:36Cielito lindo, los corazones.
00:30:49There was a proposal made that the negotiation be shared at assembly every day.
00:30:54Raise your hand if you're in favor of that.
00:30:57Beautiful. So we will be doing that going slower. Thank you.
00:31:01Suede and I every day we spend hours with the administration negotiating on your behalf to get our demands.
00:31:11I was approached the night of the encampment that I would be the person communicating with the administration.
00:31:23The organizers trusted me given my background in terms of like working in diplomacy here at the British Embassy or here at the UN.
00:31:33We discussed who's best to support me and we felt that Suede is the perfect person.
00:31:39The university wanted to shut down the encampment in any way that it could.
00:31:45When it first started they were like let's not let them bring in water.
00:31:48Let's shut down all of the gates.
00:31:49Let's not let them bring in tents.
00:31:51Let's not let them bring in blankets.
00:31:53Because it was cold, it was freezing.
00:31:55They underestimated the will of the students.
00:31:58They literally like feel that these are just kits.
00:32:02Through my conversation I just felt how much the university is detached from reality.
00:32:08What university in the world want to invest in weapon manufacturers?
00:32:12Why would you do that?
00:32:13You're concerned with education.
00:32:15Like we're literally giving you back the university to be a moral university.
00:32:21Every time in the negotiations when we told them that they would say like oh you're overestimating your power or your influence.
00:32:28But then after the fourth day they were just like so silent.
00:32:32Because clearly it's a global movement.
00:32:34I remember like telling him like at this point there are 60 universities sitting up encampments across the United States.
00:32:41They're just like waiting to hear what would happen at Columbia.
00:32:45They were like this is our deal.
00:32:50You have until 12 a.m.
00:32:52If you don't take the deal the National Guard or the police would come in.
00:32:57We left the negotiations.
00:33:00We're like just managing what we want to do.
00:33:04I verified with a couple of congresspeople and they said it's an empty threat.
00:33:09We called the governor.
00:33:10The governor said there's no intention of sending any National Guard.
00:33:14We called their bluff.
00:33:16Not at any moment.
00:33:18We are trusting the administration.
00:33:21Even when they are conceding to our demands.
00:33:24Free, free Palestine.
00:33:30Free, free Palestine.
00:33:32Free, free Palestine.
00:33:34Free, free Palestine.
00:33:36Free, free Palestine.
00:33:38Free, free Palestine.
00:33:40Free, free Palestine.
00:33:41NYPD we know you.
00:33:43NYPD we know you.
00:33:45You're Israeli trained too.
00:33:47You're Israeli trained too.
00:33:49Let's keep it up.
00:33:50They can't stop us.
00:33:51We're here for the students.
00:33:52Let's go.
00:33:54In the first few days of the Columbia encampment I think I was outside there maybe 20 out of 24 hours a day.
00:34:00Keeping up the chanting, keeping up the energy so that the students would always feel our presence and always feel strengthened by it.
00:34:07What happens on the campuses is visible to the entire world.
00:34:17So let's raise our voices.
00:34:20Keep our spirits high.
00:34:23And chant for our free Palestine.
00:34:27To interrupt.
00:34:28We don't know what to show.
00:34:29We don't know what to show.
00:34:30We don't know what to show.
00:34:32We don't know what to show.
00:34:33So thank you all for being here with us.
00:34:37Standing strong with us.
00:34:39Chanting with us.
00:34:41To make the democracy with us.
00:34:43To make the advocacy with us.
00:34:45To make the freedom from Palestine with us.
00:34:48There were all-day, all-night rallies outside the gates of Colombia, making sure the encampments
00:34:56exist for longer, that they could reach more of their political demands.
00:35:00It helped get food into the encampment, it helped get supplies into the encampment, but
00:35:04most importantly, it amplified what was happening.
00:35:07In many ways, it also sent a message to the students, you're not alone, the movement is
00:35:11not going to abandon you.
00:35:12When the first arrests were made, me and my friends came to the second encampment that
00:35:33was set up after running a picket around the students who started to first collect.
00:35:37And when it was time to go to sleep that night, I found myself feeling so anxious and unable
00:35:42to rest, knowing that there was work to be done, I guess.
00:35:45And so, I came to the Supply Tarp and have basically been working there ever since.
00:35:49Alumni have donated so much, restaurants in the area have donated so much, to the point
00:35:53where we have an abundance of food and supplies that we're redirecting to organizations in
00:35:57Harlem and also to other encampments in New York.
00:36:00Now we're here, let's see, I do want toå”± for
00:36:17A little girl whose name was rose on the leaf
00:36:34Uh, roti roll. These ones are chicken matani.
00:36:36Do you, do you eat chicken?
00:36:37I do. Maybe I'll come back.
00:36:39Yeah, come back, come back.
00:36:40I'll see you.
00:36:47Mic check!
00:36:54Mic check!
00:36:55Mic check!
00:36:56If everyone could please gather round for today's updates coming out of Ghazzeh.
00:37:01The Civil Defense announces that the number of recovered bodies at Nasr Hospital as mass graves as a result of the barbaric Zionist siege on the hospital and indiscriminate killing of men and women and children
00:37:14has risen to 342 martyrs just today.
00:37:18A community member here who's already lost tens of family members in Ghazzeh lost another one last night to the most recent airstrike.
00:37:27So I just want to remind everyone that what's happening in Ghazzeh is not far removed from us whatsoever.
00:37:33I was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus in Syria.
00:37:46My family's history in Palestine actually goes back to, um, as long as my grand, uh, parent could trace it.
00:37:54They live in a very small village right next to Tiberias.
00:38:03Mostly they were farmers.
00:38:06My grandmother, she used to tell us that she had Jewish neighbors.
00:38:10They would share a piece of land where they would farm it.
00:38:15Tiberias was one of the first cities that the Zionists targeted in 1948 with ethnic cleansing.
00:38:23hads going.
00:38:27Many women in 1970 were trapped in Milцы.
00:38:30And they distancing their twin till day.
00:38:33Many soldiers yelledIk.
00:38:34In April 1948.
00:38:35Or months before the Neckrabal.
00:38:36The Zionists, militias, they burned one of their villages.
00:38:42When they heard the news about that they had to leave immediately.
00:38:48Some of the men went to fight, big families.
00:38:52They had to go to Syria.
00:38:56My grandmother, she was pregnant at that time.
00:39:00She had to walk 40 miles.
00:39:03She gave birth on the way.
00:39:10When they arrived in the refugee camp,
00:39:12they thought it's just a matter of days until they would go back.
00:39:16They did not want to be killed
00:39:18because they heard about the horror stories across Tiberias.
00:39:21My dad was born in a tent.
00:39:26His family lived in that tent until, like, mid-'70s
00:39:30when they upgraded to small structures.
00:39:34In the 90s, they finally kind of, like, had concrete buildings.
00:39:40To us, it was always a temporary home
00:39:44until we go back to Palestine.
00:39:46That's why very few families actually invested in there.
00:39:50Not necessarily because they don't have the means,
00:39:53but because investing more in these houses
00:39:55means that they may forget Palestine.
00:39:59My parents, they've never been to Palestine.
00:40:03They live in Germany.
00:40:04They are trying to learn the language
00:40:06just to get the citizenship so they can go visit Palestine.
00:40:09And it's kind of, like, heart-breaking because, like, my dad, you know,
00:40:13barely can read Arabic to study German.
00:40:16The Zionists were coming to the encampment and saying,
00:40:21I'm gonna come in and rape the women in there.
00:40:22I'm gonna rape you.
00:40:23I'm gonna rape you.
00:40:24I'm gonna rape you.
00:40:27Hey, get that a certain.
00:40:29I love you, man.
00:40:30Get that a certain amount.
00:40:31Ma!
00:40:32Ma!
00:40:33Ma!
00:40:34Ma!
00:40:35Ma!
00:40:36Ma!
00:40:37Ma!
00:40:38Ma!
00:40:39Ma!
00:40:40Ma!
00:40:41Ma!
00:40:42Ma!
00:40:43Ma!
00:40:44Ma!
00:40:45Ma!
00:40:46Ma!
00:40:47Ma!
00:40:48Ma!
00:40:49Ma!
00:40:50Ma!
00:40:51They would come and they would scream like you're all terrorists, they would throw things into the encampment.
00:41:09I'm not recording.
00:41:10Have you been to Gaza? Have you been to Gaza?
00:41:12Send them there, send them back.
00:41:13What language do you speak? Where are you from? Where's your ancestors from?
00:41:16I'm not recording.
00:41:17Why are you even here? You're just another dummy, right? Another stupid guy.
00:41:21And nothing, not a peep from our administration about our safety and our protection.
00:41:26Get out of here! Get out of here!
00:41:28This is a case! This is a case! Fuck you!
00:41:32The Zionists came with weapons and that's when it became extremely scary.
00:41:38Anger flared at the line of barricades that has been set up at the pro-Palestinian encampment on the camping.
00:41:44You still can't!
00:41:45Get out of here!
00:41:45Get out of here!
00:41:46Get out of here!
00:41:47No, no, no, no, no, no!
00:41:49Fuck you!
00:41:50Fuck you!
00:41:52Fuck you!
00:41:53You still have no chance!
00:41:55Fuck you!
00:41:56our dean watched as the zionists came and beat up students from the balcony of royce hall
00:42:05i had that same feeling i had when i was kicked off the bus in palestine
00:42:10no one is coming to save you not even the people who took an oath that they
00:42:15were going to come and save you
00:42:26what gives you insight into what the universities were doing during these protests and specifically
00:42:38with columbia um well i worked in the top office there representing the communications from one
00:42:44of their schools i was in this role when october 7th happened in early months of the crisis i
00:42:51drafted communications that attempted to contextualize the israeli palestine situation
00:42:57i obviously wanted to acknowledge the tragedy of any israelis who lost their lives on october 7th
00:43:02but i also wanted to bring in fact that you know a number of palestinians had been killed at the hand
00:43:07of israel in the months leading up to october 7th i was told to take any anything about previous
00:43:14palestine struggles out of the communications and for whatever reason in the document the word
00:43:19palestine and palestinian were super struck out but the word hamas was kept i asked for clarification
00:43:24from that and i was told that for the time being we're going to stick to the word hamas we were
00:43:28going to use the word palestine and palestinian i was approached on campus by several students
00:43:35they were concerned that the deaths of palestinians were being minimized if not just completely ignored
00:43:40in the statements coming out from the school and i asked them what they wanted me to do and they said
00:43:44could you just please start putting some numbers into these statements you know absolutely
00:43:49acknowledge the israelis who have lost their lives but also could you please put in the number
00:43:53of palestinians lost their lives just so people can see i brought that back to my boss and what
00:43:58they said to me was this who are these students and i said well i didn't get their names and they
00:44:02said no no no who were they i said well it was a couple women there was a man they said do i have
00:44:06to spell it out for you what did they look like what color was their skin were they wearing scarves
00:44:11and i didn't feel comfortable answering that question then i was admonished and told to
00:44:18not fall into a quote quote skewed perspective that i would be getting from students throughout this
00:44:25crisis
00:44:44hi we're returning
00:44:53israel was a very big part of our family
00:45:04in my childhood i had this idea that in order for jews to be safe they had to have a state
00:45:13as it was in college one thing that everybody would say was free palestine the israeli settler
00:45:18state and i'd be like i don't really understand like why everybody is just erasing jewish history
00:45:25and like needlessly attacking jews the more you learn about it the more you learn that that's not
00:45:31actually the argument the issue is not the existence of jewish people in historic palestine it's the
00:45:39process of settler colonialism and the displacement of the palestinian people and the genocide of the
00:45:42palestinian people i started to really question i was learning things which were not going to be very
00:45:51acceptable to large portions of my family it almost feels like you are having to sort of reject a part
00:45:57of yourself the more that i became sort of disillusioned with the party of zionism that happened at the
00:46:04moment where i sort of started to get into jewish studies like you know i was teaching myself how to
00:46:08read hebrew i was doing like torah study it became really important to me that i actually do have
00:46:13like a positive connection to judaism joining us now a lead negotiator for the student coalition
00:46:20at columbia university thank you so much for taking a few moments with us
00:46:26mahmoud as you know threats and fear of violence have driven many jewish students from the campus at
00:46:31columbia what do you say to people who say the campus is now an unsafe place for jewish students
00:46:38and once again i would say that the liberation of palestine and the palestinians and the jewish
00:46:46people are intertwined they go hand in hand antisemitism and any other form of racism has no
00:46:52place on this campus and in this movement it's completely farcical to to imply that in any way
00:46:58like jewish people were you know being persecuted or being driven off the encampment we don't tolerate
00:47:05that we're internationalists we believe that this is a struggle that unites all people
00:47:10so when i watch these media reports of rampant antisemitism and i hear school officials give
00:47:16speeches or present statements on it they're avoiding giving any example because i really feel like
00:47:21there's a dearth of these examples i mean they're there on the scene they have cameras set up they have
00:47:25reporters there 24 7. so where where are the sound bites of the people saying the antisemitic things
00:47:31today jewish students at columbia university spoke out saying that they feel unsafe i've seen them
00:47:37pirate foul antisemitic tropes there's a certain minority of students who feel threatened by the
00:47:45very presence of people who are advocating for stopping a genocide and those people are listened to
00:47:50much much more than the majority of the people who are advocating for cutting ties with the genocidal
00:47:57regime i have never felt more proud to be jewish and more in line with the values of my faith than when
00:48:05i was being taken out of columbia's lawns with my hands dipped tied behind my back in order to push
00:48:12our university to divest from genocide apartheid and occupation in palestine i was actually assigned to
00:48:20investigate what were the antisemitic comments that were happening what was the antisemitism how could we
00:48:24combat it what's going to be our messaging what i found is that these claims of antisemitism were
00:48:29really being driven by the pro-israel student groups that were on campus and our pro-israel faculty
00:48:35what they were classifying as antisemitism was any criticism of israel whatsoever and we're going
00:48:57even further than that i've read reports of people claiming antisemitism because they heard the word
00:49:02palestine or the word palestinian or that there was a palestinian student enrolled in their class
00:49:08they saw these things as hate crimes and hate speech and they were catalogued as such by the schools
00:49:23we are here and if anyone here disagrees with me you can tell me but i think we are here because we
00:49:37are jews not just because we happen to be because that is part of who we are to fight for liberation
00:49:44of every human being to know that every human being is a divine image that is what we're doing right now
00:49:50and we are separating ourselves from people who are somehow incapable of seeing that we are fighting
00:49:57for the divine spark for the telem in every person you're all so amazing and it's an honor to be here
00:50:04with you if you're familiar with the havdalah service please sing loudly and proudly if you're not please
00:50:10sing loudly and proudly it's very jewish should not know the words and not know everything but you'll catch on
00:50:17is
00:50:26I'm so proud of you.
00:50:51I'm so proud of you.
00:50:53Dude, your photos have been insane.
00:50:55Those of us who have been suspended don't want to jeopardize ourselves more, but we
00:51:03also really want to be in community, so we've been talking to you about this.
00:51:07I would get expelled to do pathology in the end of the day.
00:51:12Look, it's been two days and we've taken five buildings, Hamilton, Lowe, Avery, Fairweather,
00:51:21Mass.
00:51:22We've got the administration figured right, they're up for calling the cops.
00:51:27When they do, we want to be here.
00:51:30We are no longer asking but demanding an end to all affiliation in ties with the Institute
00:51:39of Defense Analysis that has resulted in the slaughter and maiming of thousands of victims
00:51:46of Americans.
00:51:48In 68, the students at Columbia took over the campus, mainly in protest of the war in Vietnam,
00:51:56specifically for Columbia to divest.
00:51:58We can tell how much this university is hooked into servicing the corporations and hooked
00:52:03into servicing the war machine.
00:52:05The occupation of Hamilton Hall was really led by black students.
00:52:12The black students of Columbia University, joined by a few members of the black community,
00:52:16have been in Hamilton Hall for 56 hours.
00:52:18Morale is high.
00:52:20Learning from the lessons of history, from the civil rights movement, from the women's
00:52:35suffrage movement, from the labor movement, from the abolitionist movement, that you have
00:52:39to be willing to be beaten, to be arrested, to be killed, is what made those student protesters
00:52:46understand that they were standing on the shoulders of history.
00:52:50I found a student who was dazed, bleeding profusely from his forehead.
00:52:55The police refused to let me pass.
00:52:57I said, this man is wounded, he needs help.
00:52:59They said, get out.
00:53:03The students were successful in changing a lot of the culture at Columbia University.
00:53:08Columbia did reexamine its position and what was happening in the war in Vietnam.
00:53:14And this also led to the New York City Police Department ban on Columbia campus.
00:53:22Columbia talks about how great that was.
00:53:25How we were placed in critical thinking and free thought.
00:53:28How many leaders and scholars came out of those encampments and those protests.
00:53:33That they are themselves college professors and doctors and lawyers.
00:53:37They revised it to say it was okay then but not okay now.
00:53:40Can you talk about some of the risks that Palestinian students and other international students take in speaking out and being focused on this?
00:54:02Of course, a lot of the Palestinian students here, they feel very uncomfortable, very very uncomfortable participating and protesting the genocide of their people.
00:54:10That's why we are very grateful for everyone on campus for protesting on our behalf.
00:54:17And what would happen to you if you were deported?
00:54:21I will live.
00:54:22I will live.
00:54:23We will continue to live.
00:54:24The Palestinian people have been under occupation, ethnic cleansing and all sorts of crimes since 1948.
00:54:34And we prevailed.
00:54:35We will prevail no matter what would happen.
00:54:38The eyes of the nation and the eyes of the globe are on Columbia.
00:54:44We will not be giving in.
00:54:46We will not give them what they want.
00:54:51We shouldn't stop here.
00:54:53Because the people in Gaza are under bombs.
00:54:56And here we are under disciplinary charges.
00:54:58We were attempting to bargain with the university in good faith, but they were stonewalling us.
00:55:07They were surveilling the negotiations, though they begged us to keep things in confidence.
00:55:13The administration, for example, they sent in a man who's dressed as a janitor, but he would just put bugs in the room.
00:55:19I think part of that was to intimidate us into thinking that you have to sign now, you have to agree now, or else you get nothing.
00:55:28They called in members of the faculty to come talk to us.
00:55:30And there was a woman who began by saying, you know, I'm Syrian, I understand, I come from war.
00:55:36You really have to ask yourself, at which point are you doing this for yourself, not for the people in Gaza?
00:55:41They did read a best and final offer, which was much worse than anything that they had previously offered.
00:55:50They wanted to offer, you know, financial transparency on direct investments, which are a minority of total investments of Colombia.
00:55:58Academic freedom would be nothing more than a statement.
00:56:01They offered to divest from any company that was found guilty of committing human rights violations, which sounds good, but it would be a recommendation to a body which is non-binding.
00:56:15And that non-binding recommendation would then be deliberated upon, at which point that body would then deliver a second non-binding recommendation.
00:56:24So we're now two non-binding recommendations deep.
00:56:28They often told us that, you know, you take a deal here, other universities are watching.
00:56:32And that's why it was particularly important for us that we not take a deal, a shitty deal, an empty deal that was nothing more than statements that we knew would never really yield a result.
00:56:41The only portion of their proposal that was giving us anything were the resilience funds or the scholarships, which are a slap in the face.
00:56:51It's really an insult to everyone's intelligence to suggest that a scholarship would be the remedy for participating in a genocide.
00:57:00If you were to ask a person in Gaza who's surviving a genocide, would you rather the bomb stop?
00:57:06Or would you rather I continue bombing you, but you can also come to my school?
00:57:10The mediators were trying to convince us that we should take this deal.
00:57:16But where it would place us is we know that in a few months it's not going to go through the Board of Trustees.
00:57:21And then students are going to want to protest again.
00:57:23But you made everybody sign an attestation form as they were getting off the encampment.
00:57:27So actually they can't protest without risking further disciplinary sanctions in a way that they hadn't before.
00:57:33So you've closed off all routes to protest and you've also effectively ensured that we're actually not getting any of our demands met.
00:57:40It's signing on nothing.
00:57:42They threatened with disciplinary if we don't agree to this.
00:57:48At that point, Sueda did most of the talking.
00:57:51She was like raging against them.
00:57:53I just opened the door and called Sueda. Let's go.
00:57:56Earlier today, President Shafiq sent out an email announcing the end of negotiations
00:58:09and declared explicitly that the university will not divest from Israel.
00:58:16The university has conducted itself with obstinacy and arrogance
00:58:21and the students refused to trade in the blood of Palestinians.
00:58:26Dick, we're now six hours past the administration's deadline for student protesters to leave the encampment or face consequences.
00:58:34But most students that we spoke to said they're not going anywhere.
00:58:38When the police give the trespass warning,
00:58:45When the police give the trespass warning,
00:58:47Turn your phone on airplane mode and power it off.
00:58:51Turn your phone on airplane mode and power it off.
00:58:55We needed to place pressure again on the administration to reopen negotiations.
00:59:01We knew that we needed to escalate further.
00:59:04The idea of an occupation of Hamilton Hall along the lines of the 1968 protests
00:59:09was something that people were always sort of considering.
00:59:14When we felt that there was no further progress to be made in negotiations
00:59:19and any engagement with administration, then it seemed like the perfect time.
00:59:24This hall, when it first happened, I think it was one of the most joyful moments of my life.
00:59:49The picket was so strong, the chants were so beautiful.
00:59:58It was just like an electric, electric moment.
01:00:01This hall was named after Hind Rajab, who was a six-year-old Palestinian girl from Gaza,
01:00:15who was assassinated by the Israeli terrorist forces.
01:00:32She was in a car fleeing Gaza City with aunt and uncle and some cousins when they were shot at.
01:00:39She was alive while the rest of the family was killed,
01:00:43and she called the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
01:00:46They dispatched an ambulance to save her.
01:00:48The ambulance and the medics inside were also intentionally killed by the occupation.
01:00:55It's now and where the destination was taken.
01:01:14How are you?
01:01:16Yes, the kids are not good.
01:01:18Are you still moving or are you going to get one of them?
01:01:22No, I'm still moving.
01:01:24Are you very close?
01:01:26Very, very.
01:01:28Do you want us to be scared?
01:01:30I'm not with you.
01:01:32I'm not with you, Amri.
01:01:34I'm not with you.
01:01:36Why am I better?
01:01:38How am I better?
01:01:40Don't let the kids be satisfied.
01:01:42I'm not with you.
01:01:44I'm not with you.
01:01:46I'm not with you.
01:01:48I'm not with you.
01:01:50I'm not with you.
01:01:52I'm not with you.
01:01:54I'm not with you.
01:01:56I'm not with you.
01:02:04355 bullets were used on the car that Hind Rajab was in.
01:02:08She was six.
01:02:10She was a baby.
01:02:12And so many other babies in Gaza have been killed.
01:02:16So the Palestinian students in Quad wanted to honor Hind and named the hall after her.
01:02:24Which isn't sufficient really, but it was a good way to bring her to life on U.S. campuses.
01:02:36I think that's her story.
01:02:38I think that's her story.
01:02:40Today, we take this building in honor of Hind and every Palestinian martyr because we will honor all the murdered.
01:02:42We will honor all the murdered.
01:02:44All the parents, fathers, fathers, fathers, fathers, fathers, fathers, fathers.
01:02:50And every Palestinian martyr.
01:02:52We take this building in honor of him and every Palestinian martyr, because we will honor all the martyrs,
01:03:12all the parents' fathers' fathers, all the parents' mothers' fathers.
01:03:16We will honor all the martyrs, all the children's sons and daughters.
01:03:46The first few hours of the day, it was quiet around us.
01:04:05We felt like, okay, Colombia didn't raid us last night.
01:04:08They're going to wait it out a little bit.
01:04:10And we just thought the more time that we had, the more it was likely that we could get the negotiations up and running and reestablish that bargaining chip, which was the whole point of taking Hintz Hall.
01:04:20The next 20 hours afterwards were kind of a whirlwind.
01:04:25We're going to be the last 21 minutes.
01:04:33We're going to be the last 20 minutes.
01:04:37We're going to be the last 20 minutes.
01:04:39But no more.
01:04:40We're going to be the last 20 minutes.
01:04:42When we were to make the rain, I thought the rain can be warm.
01:04:46We are here today to update New Yorkers about the ongoing situation at Columbia University
01:05:04and our plans to protect students, our staff, and the public.
01:05:09They're not here to promote peace or unity or allow a peaceful display of one's voice.
01:05:17But they're here to create discord and divisiveness.
01:05:23This must end now.
01:05:31The admin wanted to talk again.
01:05:33They were just pleading with us to take the deal.
01:05:36You have one final offer to take the deal, just take this deal or else.
01:05:39There was no reason to take such a bad deal.
01:05:48They said that the NYPD would be coming.
01:05:50We shall not be moved.
01:05:59Standing up for justice, we shall not be moved.
01:06:03Standing up for justice, we shall not be moved.
01:06:07Just like the tree that's standing by the wall.
01:06:10Clear it out.
01:06:11Go.
01:06:12Let's go.
01:06:15We will not run this far.
01:06:31Down.
01:06:32Down.
01:06:33Down the stairs.
01:06:34Go.
01:06:34Journalists were moved by the police into other university buildings.
01:06:43I don't want us to win it!
01:06:45Only three redemptors to genocide!
01:07:04I don't want us to win it!
01:07:34Go!
01:07:36Go!
01:07:37Go!
01:07:38Go!
01:07:39Go!
01:07:40Go!
01:07:41Go!
01:07:42Go!
01:07:47It really was like a scene from a movie.
01:07:51And, like, I couldn't watch the video footage that came out of that night.
01:07:58It just really keeps occurring to me, like, why do they do this to us?
01:08:01these students aren't doing anything bad in fact they're doing something everybody should be doing
01:08:14when hint hall was raided it gave a green light to university administrations to do the same
01:08:26we just had an explosion here they just tear gas people they're coming
01:08:31they got the lush lentils out ready to go off on some college kids
01:08:41these police officers out here today that's thousands of students scholarships
01:08:53police say 120 protesters were taken away in zip ties after hundreds of police used flashband
01:08:59grenades rubber bullets and tear gas in a face-off with protesters who chanted we are not leaving
01:09:05you don't scare us
01:09:20our dean came on a loudspeaker and said this is your warning if you do not leave now they're going to
01:09:27break into the encampment and arrest all of you and we will not stop them
01:09:36they started shooting other bullets and throwing mace bombs and they infiltrated the encampment
01:09:53one of our students had a chest contusion from being shot in the chest by a rubber bullet without
01:09:59even making contact with an officer
01:10:10at their request we went in and conducted an operation to allow columbia university to remove
01:10:18those who have turned the peaceful protest into a place where anti-semitism and anti-israeli attitudes
01:10:27were pervasive our job to keep people in our cities safe and the nypd is ready to do their job anywhere
01:10:35and anytime we're called upon but try to lock us out but the nypd and the people of the city of new york
01:10:44new york will never be locked out and we'll always work together to keep our city safe
01:10:51these past two weeks have been among the most difficult in columbia's history the issues that
01:10:56are challenging us the palestinian israeli conflict anti-semitism and anti-arab and anti-muslim bias
01:11:03have existed for a long time and columbia despite being a remarkable institution cannot solve them
01:11:11single-handedly what we can do is be an exemplar of a better world where people who disagree
01:11:19do so civilly recognize each other's humanity and show empathy and compassion for one another
01:11:27we have a lot to do but i am committed to working at it every day
01:11:31and with each of you to rebuild community on our campus
01:12:01and we're just getting started we are creative we have a cause that we believe in and we're gonna
01:12:20fight for the end well struggling for palestine it's just like breathing because the moment that we
01:12:31stop advocating and fighting for palestine it's the moment we die we resist it until palestine is free
01:12:50we're trying to keep it moving we're not trying to slow anybody down the individual that i spoke to
01:13:10was intentionally blocking people from entering okay if you if i'll i can talk to them okay please do
01:13:16all right thank you as we prepare to begin a new semester as we prepare to begin a new semester
01:13:26these are now fundamental challenges to the legitimacy of the whole system and you have to think about the
01:13:45role that universities play in the united states particularly the elite universities these are the
01:13:50factories that produce the factories that produce the people that end up running the media running
01:13:55the political system running the corporations if you lose control of them then ultimately you lose
01:14:03control of the elite opinion israel cannot exist without the u.s weapons without u.s money without u.s
01:14:11political cover without u.s intelligence and if the masses of people in the united states are rapidly
01:14:17dropping their support of the israeli cause this is a significant defeat
01:14:31uh thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you
01:14:43we love you
01:14:47mhm
01:14:48mhm
01:14:49mhm
01:14:50mhm
01:14:50mhm
01:14:51mhm
01:14:53mhm
01:14:54I didn't have a video for students to speak about Palestine
01:15:00and to learn about the Palestine and the Palestinian situation
01:15:03the political, the knowledge, the history, and the real
01:15:08It's one of the most important things that made the world all of it be seen
01:15:13We didn't even know about the video, we didn't know about the video
01:15:17We didn't know about the video, we didn't know about the video
01:15:20We died in the 8th
01:15:21If we didn't know about the future, we finished our video
01:15:25And even if we didn't know about the future
01:15:26If we didn't know about the future
01:15:29Asfe
01:15:33Asfe
01:15:36Asfe
01:15:40We didn't know about the future
01:15:43This death and this rebellion
01:15:45It's all about the future
01:15:48other than...
01:15:50just life
01:15:52and the studs of the world
01:15:53and the studs of the students
01:15:55and the publishers
01:15:56and the prerequisites
01:15:58and the people
01:15:59and theholders
01:16:00and the natives
01:16:01It was huge
01:16:0250,000 were wounded
01:16:03and were built from the country
01:16:05and was available to tens of years
01:16:07I had a stolen country
01:16:08until now
01:16:09for more years
01:16:09I didn't see my house
01:16:10for more years
01:16:13But this eight
01:16:15I felt that we didn't have anything
01:16:18My friend is closed, my friend, we don't have to be done.
01:16:22This is the beginning of the end to the occupation.
01:16:36The phase may be very long, but it's definitely the start of the decline.
01:16:41The world has waken up.
01:16:46When the occupation ends, the first thing I would do is definitely going back to Palestine.
01:16:52I have this dream of mine of jumping off the wall of Akka into the sea.
01:17:00Then continue building a state for everyone, a state that embraces all its citizens,
01:17:08a state that values human lives.
01:17:13One day, inshallah.
01:17:19The으면 of justice for God's people's sin.
01:17:24The burden of God is held, that he is held, that he is held, that he is held.
01:17:31Amen.
01:18:01Amen.
01:18:31Amen.
01:19:01Amen.
01:19:31Amen.
01:20:01Amen.