Republican Senators Josh Hawley (MO) and Tom Cotton (AR) sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Monday asking him to send the National Guard to the campus of Columbia University to protect Jewish-American students with Zionist views. They claim to be concerned that they face threats from pro-Palestine protests organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition (CUAD), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
In their letter, Hawley noted that in-person classes have been canceled at Columbia on Passover due to the protest, which Hawley characterized as an “illegal pro-Hamas demonstration” that is jeopardizing the “safety of Jewish American students and citizens.” Hawley also called on Biden to mobilize the National Guard while speaking on the Senate floor Monday.
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As Valuetainment reported earlier this week, groups of pro-Palestine student activists have formed at Yale and Columbia to demonstrate against the perceived atrocities occurring in Gaza. There are also thousands participating in anti-occupation protests in Brooklyn. The University of Minnesota and various other campuses throughout the US are experiencing clashes between student protestors and the police, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) castigating the use of force as undermining academic freedom.
EXCLUSIVE: Josh Hawley Calls On Biden To Send National Guard To Protect Jewish American Students On Columbia’s Campus https://t.co/LoGoA4UmS0 via @dailycaller
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) April 22, 2024
The protest groups had been planning these actions months in advance.
“The Gaza Solidarity Encampment will remain until Columbia University divests all finances, including the endowment, from corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine,” CUAD wrote Wednesday.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) voiced her support for the demonstrations, citing Columbia’s history of war protests.
Columbia has always had an incredible history of students fighting for a more just world and it’s good to see that tradition continue. As NYPD surrounds young activists, I hope their concerns are heard by school administrators and they not be criminalized. In solidarity ✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/UV8k3xltKT
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 17, 2024
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics and business for VT and a regular guest on The Unusual Suspects. Follow Shane’s work here.
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