The attempted takeover of a library at Columbia University by anti-Israel protesters last week was shut down fast and decisively by law enforcement, and the feeling among students on campus is that any further disruption — or any repeat of last year’s chaotic campus encampments — will not be tolerated among the university’s new leadership and will be quickly squashed.
There was a somber and uneasy mood outside the university the day after the protest, with the vast majority of students tight-lipped on the matter as they hurriedly shuffled through a security checkpoint outside the main gate on their way to class. There were no political signs, no Palestinian flags, and only a handful of people over the course of several hours were spotted wearing keffiyehs, the traditional Middle Eastern scarf often worn by protesters to signify their support of Palestinians.
Those who did speak said things had changed.
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“It was very scary. I think the energy after last night, the dynamic has shifted,” a dejected Harmony Cruz Bustamante told Fox News Digital outside the university on Thursday afternoon.
“There’s just a collective understanding now on campus that we don’t talk about certain things because of fears of getting detained or questioned by the authorities. So it was very scary last night because the university really revealed themselves in that they… really don’t have our interests at heart. And I think that was seen through the viciousness that a lot of the public safety officers and NYPD had.”
Cruz Bustamante and others sympathetic to the protesters’ cause pointed fingers at the alleged heavy-handed tactics used by the NYPD and university police.
Having had $400 million in federal funding pulled by the Trump administration, the university warned students weeks ago that any illegal protests would be swiftly shut down, and agitators would be arrested.
That is exactly what happened on Wednesday afternoon when anti-Israel protesters burst into the Butler Library and climbed on tables as students prepared for finals. The NYPD made 80 arrests – 19 males and 61 females, according to a source. A source also said at least 50 of the 80 protesters arrested were Columbia University students.
Trying to get students to speak about the protests proved challenging.
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Many international students, who make up around 38% of the population, breezed by and said they did not want to risk speaking in case their visas would be yanked, like Mahmoud Khalil, one of the ringleaders of anti-Israel protests at Columbia last year who the Trump administration arrested in March and is trying to deport.
Among those non-international students who did speak, the reaction was mixed.
“I think it was quite commendable and honorable of them,” said political science major Elias Taouli, who agrees with the protesters’ cause but does not condone violence.
“It was quite chaotic, some kids were getting shoved on the ground and everything,” he said. “Of course, there’s always a better way to do things, but the truth is that we’re trying to get a reaction out of Columbia, and it’s very easy to criticize 19-year-old kids on how they protest, but then you won’t criticize how Columbia has been bending over backwards for Trump and then deporting its students.”
“Columbia is going against every value that they preach. I mean they teach us these beautiful values and the reason why I came here — freedom and equality and justice – but they’re bending over backwards to basically appease a dictator. While Harvard is fighting back. They’re not even trying to fight back.”
He said that the demonstrators’ message itself is antisemitic and that there is always a small fraction of people who will take it too far, adding that those protesting are not against the Jewish people.
However, a blunt Rose Meyer was adamant that agitators should pay the price for their illegal conduct.
“My thoughts are that if you’re going to break school policy, you will pay the consequences. It’s that simple,” Meyer said. “What’s happening in Gaza is not great. I don’t have a solution. I don’t think it’s very easy to solve, but the way you’re going about it, not so bueno.”
The university’s encampment protests ignited a wave of campus protests throughout the country last year. The chaos at Columbia culminated in students taking control of Hamilton Hall and violently clashing with police in riot gear. The ugly scenes saw more than 200 people arrested as students protested Israel’s war in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that left more than 1,200 people dead.
Critics of the protesters said they were fueled by hatred of Israel, while defenders said they were trying to force political change and stop Israel’s attacks on Gaza aimed at crushing Hamas and rescuing the hostages.
Another student, PJ, said he hopes Wednesday’s disturbance can be used as an inflection point and said he hopes it is used as a time to come together to find some common ground. He feels the disruptions should be dealt with internally by the university.
“I think that it’s a lot of sadness, a lot of frustration, a lot of confusion, as well,” he said. “I think this is a scary time, I also think it’s a very hopeful time.”
He said students are trying to balance the best way to stand up for their beliefs and values with academic tasks at hand.
International students who did speak to Fox News Digital did not want to be on video in fear of any repercussions.
As of the fall, about 13,750 (38%) of Columbia’s student population are international students with more than 6,450 hailing from China, according to the university. That is followed by 1,240 Indians and nearly 580 Canadians. These students hail from over 145 countries.
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One Italian student said the tactics protesters used were wrong. “I’ve learned that it’s smart not to comment.”
“I’m staying out of it, I’m an international student,” a smiling female international student from Ethiopia said as she whizzed by.
Daniel David, a freshman from Israel who is studying computer science, said the protesters are misguided since they do not live in the Middle East and do not have first-hand experience of the situation in the Middle East.
“There are no consequences for actions. How do they know what’s going on over there?” David asked.
He said he thought twice about coming to study at Columbia given last year’s encampments but said if he did not, then it would have been a win for the demonstrators.
Antonio Da Porto, an Italian student who is studying math, added that he does not want a repeat of last year’s disruptions when student classes, studies and graduations were interrupted. He said the protesters should demonstrate in public spaces.
“These people act in a way that they want to really put the students in a difficult situation. I think there’s a silent majority of people that are not happy about anything that’s happening right now and that’s been happening in the last year,” Da Porto said.
“You can say what you think, but you’re an international student, so you’re here to build your career, and you should not bring any problems to the nation. There’s not really a systematic antisemitism problem. It’s like a small group of students that do a lot of noise. But outside this small group of students, Jewish students can feel relatively safe on the campus.”
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