Hundreds of Columbia students walk out as NYC campuses brace for Oct. 7 protests

Hundreds of Columbia University students joined a walkout on Monday afternoon as part of protests planned across New York City campuses marking the anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war.

At Columbia, security barriers were set up around campus and access was limited to only students and staff ahead of the walkout at 11:45 a.m. On the lawn where a pro-Palestinian encampment once stood, students had set up memorials to Israelis captured or killed by Hamas in last year’s attacks.

The pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime planned several demonstrations across the city, including one starting at 3:30 p.m. at Washington Square Park in the heart of NYU’s campus. Pro-Palestinian student groups citywide said they intended to participate.

The demonstrations set the stage for a major test of new restrictions on speech and protests on campuses. They come one year after Hamas militants attacked Israel, prompting Israel’s ongoing ground invasion and bombardment of Gaza. The war has widened into a broader conflict in the Middle East.

The large university protests are some of the the first such campus gatherings since last spring, when a pro-Palestinian encampment that began at Columbia University expanded to other colleges in the city and across the country. The academic year was thrown into chaos, with the NYPD arresting hundreds of people during the campus protests, and graduation plans were eventually upended.

In the lead-up to the anniversary, local universities have been trying to encourage peaceful dialogue on campus, while revising codes of conduct and setting up new limits on protests.

In an email to students and staff at Columbia on Sunday, Interim President Katrina Armstrong said the university's administrators have “anticipated and have been preparing for a period of uncertainty in the coming days.”

She said some groups have worked with university officials and school security to plan nonviolent protests and commemorations. But she said some other groups had not received permission for their demonstrations.

“We have also learned and had evidence of plans of groups not affiliated with Columbia choosing to come to our Morningside campus for activities that raise concern about the potential for violence,” Armstrong wrote. She added that the student walkout coordinated with Within Our Lifetime was “not sanctioned."

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters were gathered on Columbia's campus by noon on Monday. Many wore keffiyehs and chanted, “Free, free Palestine,” and, “There is only one solution, intifada, revolution.”

A group of pro-Israel protesters gathered nearby, some waving Israeli flags and playing loud songs in Hebrew that mostly drowned out the chants and speeches from the pro-Palestinian group.

Students and faculty watched protesters on both sides, taking photos of the peaceful demonstrations. One display featured the faces of people still being held by Hamas on large cardboard milk cartons.

Outside the gates of Columbia's campus, another group sang Hebrew songs and wore sweatshirts stating, "Bring Them Home." Campus police, private security and NYPD officers set up metal barricades to contain protesters.

“My world changed exactly a year ago today,” said 19-year-old Britney Prince, a Brooklyn resident who is not a Columbia student but felt it was important to attend the demonstration.

“I’m not glad that we have to be here, but I’m glad there’s other people around me to support each other," Prince said.

Some students participating in the walkout planned to merge with other protesters at more than a dozen sites throughout Manhattan, from Wall Street to Columbus Circle, as part of the series of demonstrations organized by Within Our Lifetime. The group says it seeks to “uplift the Palestinian people resisting genocide by any means necessary.” Its cofounder, Nerdeen Kiswani, a Palestinian American CUNY Law School alum, supports the replacement of the state of Israel with one called Palestine.

Also on Monday, New York City’s education department announced it was launching a hotline for parents, students and staff in public schools to report incidents of hate, harassment or discrimination. Schools officials said the new “anti-hate hotline” will operate on weekdays and reports can be anonymous.

This story has been updated with additional information.