Columbia University failed to reach an agreement with pro-Palestinian demonstrators Monday who have camped out on campus in protest of the school’s ties to Israel.
Columbia University failed to reach an agreement with pro-Palestinian demonstrators Monday who have camped out on campus in protest of the school’s ties to Israel.
Over 400 protesters have been arrested in an attempt to break up an encampment that has been in place for over a week at the university, but negotiations have failed to bring an end to the demonstrations. Columbia President Minouche Shafik released a statement Monday saying that negotiations with the protesters had been unsuccessful and that despite calls to do so, the university would not be divesting from Israel.
“We’ve worked hard to balance these principles,” Shafik wrote. “To that end, since Wednesday, a small group of academic leaders has been in constructive dialogue with student organizers to find a path that would result in the dismantling of the encampment and adherence to University policies going forward.
