US National Security Council 'watching' pro-Palestine university protests 'with concern'

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US National Security Council said Tuesday that it is monitoring ongoing pro-Palestinian campus protests "with concern" after students occupied a building at Columbia University.

Spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the students' overnight takeover of Hamilton Hall after negotiations with the school's administration fell apart is "unacceptable."

"We're watching these protests with concern here at the National Security Council, and at the White House," said Kirby.

"We continue to believe in the freedom of speech and the right to protest policies and ideas that you want to protest -- you just got to do it peacefully, you can't hurt anybody. And you can't in this case, you can't be disrupting the educational pursuit of your fellow students. They have a right to go to school and they have a right to do so safely. They have a right to get an education, and taking over a building by force is unacceptable," he added.

Columbia's administration had issued disciplinary actions and initiated the suspension of some students after pro-Palestinian demonstrators refused to vacate encampments established in solidarity with Gaza by the 2 p.m. Monday deadline the school established.

In response, a group of antiwar demonstrators entered the historic Hamilton Hall building on the university's central campus late Monday, renaming the building "Hind's Hall," in reference to Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old girl who was brutally killed by Israeli forces.

In a statement Monday, Columbia President Minouche Shafik acknowledged the breakdown in talks between the university and the protesters but added the school will not divest from Israel, a key demand of protesters.

Shafik asked protesters to voluntarily shutter the encampment, vaguely alluding to consultations with "a broader group" to examine "alternative internal options to end this crisis as soon as possible."

Shafik's decision to ask police to forcibly disband an initial encampment and arrest demonstrators staging a sit-in on April 18 served as a flashpoint in the wider protest movement. It emboldened demonstrators, and encampments have since spread to universities nationwide in defiance of arrests and threats from university administrators.

Hundreds of students have since been arrested on campuses across the country with protests demanding universities divest from Israel and condemn its ongoing war on the besieged Gaza Strip where more than 34,400 people have been killed. The vast majority of the dead have been women and children.

Palestinian journalists, academics, and activists have been frequently killed.

Israel has also targeted Gaza's places of higher education, with all 12 major universities being destroyed. The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, or UNRWA, has separately reported mass destruction at the sprawling network of schools it operates in the coastal enclave. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​