Pro-Palestinian Protesters Rally at Low Plaza

Columbia students and faculty staged a walkout for Palestine on October 7, a year after the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Photography by Sherry Chen/The Barnard Bulletin

By Jaya Shankar

October 10, 2024

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian student protesters joined a walkout of classes on Monday, October 7, organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest in connection with the Palestinian-led organization Within Our Lifetime's call to demonstrate across New York City. The protests fell on the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel which marked the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Before the rally on Low Plaza, demonstrators continued their ongoing vigil that began on Wednesday, October 2, reading from 2 to 8 p.m. everyday the names and ages of over 50,000 Palestinians killed by the Israeli Defense Force in Gaza over the last year. Students held banners reading "All Our Martyrs Have A Name," "Free Gaza Free Speech," and "Resistance Until Return." 

Photography by Sherry Chen/The Barnard Bulletin

During the rally, which began at 11:45 a.m., pro-Palestinian protesters chanted "Free, free Palestine" and "Viva, viva, Palestina," waving signs and flags. Several Palestinian students also shared speeches about family members and friends who had died in Gaza. One speaker stated, "The protests and actions will continue until Columbia divests from apartheid and genocide." Calls for University divestment were among the chants at the rally, with students chanting, "Columbia, you can't hide / you invest in genocide."  

Photography by Sherry Chen/The Barnard Bulletin

Columbia had prepared for demonstrations during the week of October 7 and alerted students and faculty to guest access changes and other safety precautions being taken by the University. In an email sent on Sunday, October 6, Interim University President Katrina Armstrong detailed the increased security measures, which included restricted gate access, increased Public Safety presence, and "more dividers and barricades than are commonly seen on campus." While officers had placed barricades around the Low Library steps, demonstrators were allowed onto the plaza through openings monitored by a Columbia University Public Safety officer.

On the west side of Low Plaza, across from the pro-Palestinian rally, a separate group of demonstrators organized by Columbia Faculty and Students Supporting Israel held their own “Columbia United Against Terrorism” protest. Protesters waved Israeli and American flags, held signs depicting the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and chanted "Bring them home." 

Photography by Sherry Chen/The Barnard Bulletin

During a speech, a student said that "Our hearts are with the 101 hostages still in Gaza." Columbia Business School assistant professor Shai Davidai, who has previously spoken out against pro-Palestine protests, was among the speakers, describing the pro-Palestinian demonstrators as "terrorists" and stating that "This is about us; this is not about them." 

Earlier that morning, a separate pro-Israel group had set up an art installation on the west side of Columbia's South Lawn—where the "Gaza Solidarity Encampent" was located in April—featuring oversized cardboard milk cartons displaying the names, photos, and ages of dozens of hostages. 

Photography by Sherry Chen/The Barnard Bulletin

Around 1 p.m., the pro-Palestinian protesters left Low Plaza and marched around the north end of campus, chanting, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" and "One, we are the students, two, we won't stop fighting, three, we want divestment now, now, now." After returning to the plaza, one of the speakers leading the chants stated that the group would exit campus at the 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue gates to join the Within Our Lifetime protest at Wall Street.

Photography by Sherry Chen/The Barnard Bulletin

Before departing around 1:40 p.m., the protesters joined hands and repeated, “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and protect one another. We have nothing to lose but our chains.”