Anti-Israel protests have returned to Columbia University in Manhattan
Anti-Israel protesters rage at Columbia University as classes begin
Fox News' Alexis McAdams reports the latest on the demonstrations from New York City.
Masked anti-Israel protesters are demonstrating on Tuesday outside of one of the entrances to Columbia University, chanting, "Free Palestine!" and holding signs urging the Ivy League school to "divest from death" as students are trying to get to their first day of classes.
The demonstrations come after a series of protests rocked the New York City-based university this past spring, which generated worldwide media attention and more than 100 arrests. The anti-Israel activity also comes just days after Hamas killed six hostages, including 23-year-old Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Hamas had been holding them captive – and continues to hold nearly 100 others – since they carried out terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Tuesday’s demonstrations are so far peaceful, with protesters walking around in a circle near one of Columbia’s entrances in Upper Manhattan.
"We refuse to live in a world where the mass murder of Palestinians is normal, acceptable, and profitable. Columbia University is complicit in genocide," the group Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine wrote on X. "Their investments in weapons manufacturers & defense contractors, companies such as Lockheed Martin, are fueling the genocide."
HAMAS TERRORISTS RELEASE FOOTAGE OF SIX SLAIN HOSTAGES, PROMISE TO SHARE ‘LAST MESSAGES’
Anti-Israel protesters demonstrate outside Columbia University on Tuesday, Sep. 3, 2024 in New York City. (AP/Yuki Iwamura)
"As we begin our new semester, students in Gaza have no universities to return to. Instead of listening to the student body, Columbia University is doubling down. We will not stop and we will not rest until Columbia divests from apartheid and genocide," it added. "This is just the beginning."
Police officers set up fences at the scene of the anti-Israel protest at Columbia University. (AP/Yuki Iwamura)
Columbia University did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
BIDEN CLAIMS NETANYAHU NOT DOING ENOUGH TO SECURE DEAL WITH TERRORISTS
The demonstrations on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024 come following protests that happened in the spring semester that resulted in the occupation of a building and more than 100 arrests at Columbia University. (AP/Yuki Iwamura)
One student at the scene told Fox News reporter Alexis McAdams that "we are here because there is still an ongoing genocide that the United States is materially and politically responsible for."
When asked if he thought protests would start emerging at Columbia University this semester, the student said, "We have been very clear that will not stop until Columbia has divested from its complicity in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people, that’s all I have to say."
Fox News’ Sandy Ibrahim and Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.
Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.
