Columbia University faces federal complaint after arresting anti-war protesters

Pro-Palestinian group file civil right complaint against Columbia University after mass arrests of anti-war protestors

WASHINGTON:

 A pro-Palestinian U.S. group filed a federal civil rights complaint against Columbia University following last week's mass arrest of anti-war protesters after the school called police to clear demonstrator encampments, the group said on Thursday.

Palestine Legal, an organization that seeks to protect the rights of people in the U.S. to speak out on behalf of Palestinians, urged the U.S. Education Department to probe the school's actions, which it alleges were discriminatory against those who are pro-Palestinian.

Columbia University declined to comment.

Last week, the university tried to shut down campus demonstrations by force when Columbia President Minouche Shafik took the unusual move, opens new tab of inviting New York City police to enter the campus, drawing the ire of many human rights groups, students and faculty. More than 100 people were arrested, reminiscent of the demonstrations against the Vietnam War at Columbia more than 50 years ago.

Protests have since continued at Columbia, opens new tab and spread to other U.S. campuses, opens new tab where hundreds have been arrested in the last week.

The demonstrators were calling for an end to the Gaza war, during which Israel has killed 34,000 people, according to Gaza's health ministry, displacing nearly all of Gaza's population and leading to widespread hunger, opens new tab and genocide allegations, opens new tab that Israel denies. The war has caused intense discourse, opens new tab across the United States, Israel's most important ally, opens new tab.

Advocacy groups note a rise in hate and bias against Jews, opens new tab, Arabs and Palestinians, opens new tab.

Alarming U.S. incidents include the fatal October stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American in Illinois, the November shooting of three students, opens new tab of Palestinian descent in Vermont and the February stabbing of a Palestinian American man, opens new tab in Texas.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said on Thursday he was following reports of allegations of antisemitism on college campuses. Earlier this month, a former Cornell University student pleaded guilty, opens new tab to posting online threats, including of death and violence, against Jewish students on campus.