See live updates of events surrounding the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. The previous day’s events are linked.

Update made on Monday, April 29 at 11:49 am:

There was no assembly on Sunday due to other programming taking place at the Encampment. People voted in favor of that decision.

Update made on Sunday, April 28 at 10:19 pm: SJP and CUAD statement

In an Instagram statement posted Sunday evening, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) provided updated information on negotiations with Columbia’s administration, stating that Columbia was “thwart[ing] divestment demands.” In the statement, organizers noted that in spite of “resilient occupation of the lawn for over 10 days, Columbia refuses to acknowledge the rationale of the student movement.” The post then outlined a series of offers given by Columbia and why they have been refused by organizers in negotiations.

One offer was for the university to pass organizer proposals through the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing (ACSRI). Organizers refused the offer because it does not entail a binding agreement, as implementation would be dependent on Columbia’s Board of Trustees.

Columbia also offered disclosure of “direct investments,” but organizers refused as “most of Columbia’s endowment is buried in direct holdings,” meaning “transparency would be incomplete” without disclosing direct and indirect investments.

Additionally, Columbia proposed a review of the Tel Aviv Dual Degree program and the Tel Aviv Global Center’s accessibility, offering “to increase access to these spaces through engagement with the Israeli government.” Organizers refused the offer, stating “A boycott demands less engagement – not more,” adding that the programs went against Columbia’s Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action policies “considering the apartheid and settler-colonial framework inherent to the zionist entity.”

In regards to CUAD’s demand for amnesty, the post states that “the university has offered nothing more than further discipline.” Additionally, CUAD reported that the University has asked students involved in the Encampment to “self-identify and to attest to abiding by university rules in the future.” Organizer’s refused the offer, stating, “Forcing students to self-identify is contrary to the spirit of universal amnesty,” continuing, “the attestation process is an underhanded attempt to stifle student movement by ensuring that students lose their right to protest.”

The statement continued, “The university believes they can thwart our movement by throwing money at students.” SJP noted that Columbia “is willing” to introduce scholarships for Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza and “to start resilience funds for Gaza.” They then  equating this to “the USA dropping aid in Palestine while actively funding the genocide itself.”

The post noted that organizers “refuse to accept bribes while the blood of Gazans is being spilled” with students’ tuition. The statement concluded that “Columbia asks students to operate within the confines of bureaucratic read tape with no assurances of binding divestment decisions” if the Encampment ends. The post noted that the University hopes to conclude with “a bad deal by holding the threat of campus closure or law enforcement over” students. The post closed with a commitment: “We will remain steadfast in our commitment to Palestine and its people.”

Update made on Sunday, April 28 at 7:39 pm: President Shafik plagiarism allegations

In a tweet posted on April 26, Yale Professor of Economics Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak claimed that one of President Minouche Shafik’s published papers titled “Economic Development and Environmental Quality: An Econometric Analysis” is “wholesale intellectual theft.” This article, which Mobarak claims is the only “well-cited publication in [Shafik’s] life,” was published in the journal Oxford Economic Papers in 1994 when President Shafik worked at the World Bank.

Mobarak claimed that this paper was “lifted almost entirely from a 1992 report” written by President Shafik and junior co-author Sushenjit Bandyopadhyay. Mobarak highlighted specific blocks of text, graphs, and equations that seemed to have been lifted directly from the 1992 report. Various sentences in the introduction, for example, are included word-for-word in both publications, while Table 1 and Figure 1 are identical in both.

“If [Bandyopadhyay] contributed enough to be an author in 1992, how can she delete him in 94?” Mobarak asked. In the 1994 paper, Bandyopadhyay was ultimately thanked in a footnote “for his outstanding research assistance.”

Mobarak called on Oxford Economic Papers to investigate.

Update made on Sunday, April 28 at 3:03 am:

WKCR Live Update:

WKCR will no longer be providing live coverage from 1 am to 8 am every day, unless “major events transpire which require [WKCR’s] immediate coverage.”

Encampment Update:

At 11 pm on Saturday, April 27, the Gaza Solidarity Encampment held a general assembly meeting.

Encampment leaders discussed the negotiations with the University. While the leaders state it is “incredibly difficult to convey” the “intricacies” of hours of meeting in 15 minutes, there will be a “detailed” newsblast about the meeting tomorrow, in line with the vote from the previous day. 

The University has the Encampment’s proposal, and the leaders state they “have done [their] best… to meet this administration in the middle.” Speakers stated that the University would “rather talk about… scholarships about resilience funds for the Middle East than… talk about divestment and disclosure.” The University has reportedly offered providing scholarships for Gazan students. Organizers also stated that today they “for sure thought it was the end of negotiations” until President Shafik sent an email tonight confirming ongoing negotiations. 

In regards to the University’s disclosure of investments, the Encampment leaders claim that the administration is only willing to provide information on “direct investments.” Leaders also request that the University share information regarding indirect investments. In terms of University divestment, the leaders claim that the administration reiterated the plan for the process move through the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing (ACSRI) and then to the Board of Trustees. 

The leaders also state that the University doesn’t “want amnesty,” continuing, “They want to discipline [the Encampment students] for standing for [their] principles.” According to them, the University will require students to sign an attestation after they leave the lawns stating that they cannot break University rules “until the end of December.” Encampment leaders claimed that students who sign these attestations cannot participate in protests until that time. 

The University also rejected the idea of open bargaining, the leaders claim, and affirmed that NYPD presence on campus is now “off the table.” CUAD leaders added that they have never “demanded Shafik’s resignation.” 

Tomorrow, the leaders say, the University will start “handing out those… disciplinary papers,” similar to the ones given to students in the first Encampment on East Butler Lawn which warned students of suspensions. The leaders urged students to not “be scared” since they “have numbers.” The speaker continued, “I want you to not be tired. Be strong, fight back… We’re not going to let them get away with this.”

Individuals present at the meeting discussed the future of the protests regarding prolonged negotiations. Organizers brought about the idea of synthesizing escalation ideas into a “few proposals” to be voted on or “tabl[ing]” the discussion “until [the] next assembly.” Individuals present voted to have the discussions regarding escalation and “roles” of arrest (red, yellow, and green) in platoon meetings.

Organizers informed the Encampment that there is “already other progress in terms of connecting with other universities,” so that the Columbia Gaza Solidarity Encampment is “not isolated.” In addition to other schools, they emphasized, “the students are with [CUAD], the staff are with [CUAD], [and] the faculty are with [CUAD].” 

At around 12:30 am, the meeting ended. Members finished with chants of, “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest” and “I believe that we will win.”

Encampment photo via Madeline Douglas