On Friday, September 27, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) organized a protest on campus in support of Lebanon. 

Content warning: violence, mentions of rape

At 2 pm on Friday, demonstrators gathered around the Sundial in a protest titled “All Out for Lebanon,” responding to recent Israeli air strikes and pager explosions in the country. The demonstration was organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and included several speakers condemning Israel’s air strikes on Lebanon. The protests on campus took place as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the UN General Assembly in New York. 

A group of around 200 protesters gathered at the Sundial holding Palestinian flags and handwritten signs that read phrases such as “Arms embargo now,” “From Beirut to Palestine, end Israeli war crimes,” “Hands off Lebanon,” “We are still here, we will persist,” “None of us are free until all of us are free,” and “Resist until liberation.” One sign read, “Fatima Abdullah, 9 years old. Slaughtered by Israel September 17, 2024.” Abdullah was killed by the pager explosions in Lebanon a week ago. 

Crowd of pro-Palestine protesters in front of the Sundial

The students standing on the Sundial who led the chants and gave the speeches held up a banner that stated “Break the chains and let them fall” throughout the event.  Another banner with a painting of Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris and New York City Mayor Eric Adams stated “ACAB means you two!”, referring to their former experiences as a prosecutor and NYPD police officer respectively. Adams has also been criticized for his staunch support of the NYPD as mayor. Banners used in previous pro-Palestine protests were also shown, including one with names written around images of poppy flowers titled, “We will honor all our martyrs.”

Banner with Kamala Harris and Eric Adams held on the steps by the Sundial

The protesting students chanted phrases condemning Israel including, “No more hiding, no more fear, genocide is crystal clear,” “Brick by brick, wall by wall, Zionism will fall,” and “From Lebanon to Palestine, occupation is a crime.” A long list detailing every chant was distributed among the crowd. The students leading chants took breaks to quote statements and a poem by June Jordan entitled, “Apologies to All the People in Lebanon.”

After the poem, a speaker stated, “If after one year of televised genocide and ecocide, the world was not moved on its feet to put that savage monster back in its cage, to call for sanctions and embargo[es], I’m not sure what options we have as a humanity.” 

Counter-protesters arrived around 2 pm and gathered behind the pro-Palestine demonstrators at 2:15 pm. Some wore and held Israeli and American flags while holding signs regarding the death count of Israeli hostages and the number of rockets launched at Israel by Hezbollah, a militant group in Lebanon. One sign read, “Hezbollah is not Lebanon,” and the leaders repeatedly chanted “Free Palestine—from Hamas,” and “Free Lebanon—from Hezbollah.” Throughout the protest, a few counter-protesters claimed the pro-Palestine protesters were “supporting terrorism” and “supporting rape.”

Counter-protesters also used chants such as, “ISIS, Hamas, KKK, SJP, they’re all the same,” modeled after the pro-Palestine chant, “NYPD, KKK, IOF, they’re all the same.” At 3 pm, halfway through the protest, the counter group brought out a large red banner that read “Get Support for Terrorism Off Our Campus.” The security marshals of the pro-Palestine protesters, delineated by their yellow armbands, stood between the two groups. 

Banner raised by the counter-protesters

When the pro-Palestine chanting paused at 2:47 pm for the recitation of a Lebanese Columbia Law Student’s testimony, a counter-protester with a megaphone began to chant over the sound of the speaker’s voice. One pro-Palestine protester demanded the counter-protester “let [the speaker] speak,” and the crowd joined in. Eventually, the original speaker decided to do what they called “people’s mic,” meaning the speaker read the testimony in fragments and the group shouted back what was said. The law student’s statement detailed the importance of their hometown, stating that it is “the most welcoming and inviting village on this Earth.” They said, “My land, the only place where I wholly belong in this world, has been reduced to rubble.”

Various other non-student protesting groups were active outside of the Columbia gates during the time of the protest. Student or affiliate IDs are required for entry onto Columbia’s Morningside campus. At the 116th and Broadway campus gates, members of a Facebook group named “Mothers Against College Antisemitism” demonstrated in solidarity with the counter-protesters, and an unnamed group wore keffiyehs and held signs in solidarity with the pro-Palestine protesters at the other end of the gate. Next to Butler Library, several individuals gathered to engage in a comprehensive dialogue at the new Columbia University Listening Tables, an initiative meant to foster tolerance and facilitate understanding. 

“Mothers Against College Antisemitism“ seen by the entrance to the 116th 1 train station.

As the protest continued, counter-protesters sang the US National Anthem and chanted “USA” while waving American flags. The number of counter-protesters grew from about seven at the beginning of the protest to over 20 closer to 3 pm. At around 3:15 pm, they brought out signs with pictures of Israeli hostages that had the word “Kidnapped” on the top. One sign had a picture of Hersh Goldberg-Polin with “Murdered” taped over the original print. Goldberg-Polin was a hostage from the original October 7 attack, and his body was discovered earlier this month. 

As the protest continued, Pro-Palestine demonstrators implicated the University, saying “Columbia University we know what side you’re on. Remember South Africa, remember Vietnam,” referring to historical protests in opposition of the University’s involvement in the Vietnam War and South African apartheid. Throughout the event, counter-protesters chanted, “Hey, Columbia, it’s old news, they just want to kill the Jews.” Counter-protesters also told the pro-Palestine students to “think for themselves” and called their chants “brainwashing.” 

A few Public Safety personnel and Allied Universal private security staff stood on the outskirts of the protest, though they did not interfere with the events. Soon after 3 pm, Public Safety officers erected a barricade, separating the protesters from the counter-protesters, and allowing for a space to get from Broadway to Amsterdam. At this point, the main protest activity was occurring around the Sundial, while counter-protesters were on the smaller lawns near Low Library. 

At the climax of the protest around 3:30 pm, the pro-Palestine demonstrators used drums and whistles to drown out the counter-protesters behind them while exclaiming loudly into the megaphones, “One, two, three, four! Occupation no more! Five, six, seven, eight! Israel is a fascist state!”

As the protest came to a close, pro-Palestine demonstrators joined hands and shouted in unison, drowning out the chants of the counter-protesters. “It is our duty to fight for our freedom, it is our duty to win, we must love and support one another. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” This was followed by cheering, clapping and drumming at high volume for about a minute and a half. At 3:45 pm, SJP concluded the protest with the words, “Long live Palestine and long live Lebanon.” 

Pro-Palestine protesters seen holding hands as the protest ended

Soon after, a counter-protester and protester got into an argument, using megaphones to communicate across the barricaded walkway. A student who self-identified as a Jewish pro-Palestine demonstrator encouraged counter-protesters to read about the history of Palestine while a counter-protester encouraged him to visit Israel. The pro-Israel demonstrators chanted a few more phrases including “Terrorist supporters off our campus” and “Say it loud say it clear we don’t want jihadists here.” The altercation came to an end as CUAD and SJP leaders encouraged the pro-Palestine demonstrator to disengage. The demonstrator claimed that they were only speaking as an individual, not on behalf of the CUAD or SJP as they left.

Images via Bwog Staff