In 1968, Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall was occupied by student activists protesting both Columbia’s complicity in the Vietnam War and the university’s plan for a de facto segregated building. It was occupied again in 1985, when students demanded that Columbia divest from apartheid South Africa. And it was occupied on Tuesday by students outraged about Israel’s genocide in Gaza, once again demanding divestment.
The recent footage of Columbia students overturning tables to blockade doors understandably captured the media’s collective imagination. But while Columbia has grabbed the spotlight, students there are far from alone. We’re now seeing a massive, unprecedented wave of pro-Palestinian…