Emelie Svensson
Published 12.05
NEW YORK. Riotous protests against Israel and the Gaza war sweep top American universities.
Sarah Borus, 20, is one of the hundreds who were arrested by police and taken away in handcuffs - now she is banned from her student residence.
- I would do it again, she tells Aftonbladet.
Helicopters hover overhead. The high iron gates around the prestigious university are locked, preventing the public from entering.
Police officers stand guard at the riot fence.
Inside, on the lawn of Columbia University, students have built their own camping town with around 100 tents.
Here, tension has been in the air for several days after rowdy street protests.
The escalation started after the New York police were tasked by the university management to evict the schoolyard campers due to "trespassing". They arrested 108 people.
The arrests set off a chain reaction across the United States. Police have torn down tents and carried out mass arrests at several elite universities; Yale in Connecticut, Berkeley in California and New York University.
When Aftonbladet visits the tent occupation at Columbia University, where it all started, the police stay outside. At the moment the camp is more like a festival area. Palestinian flags hang over the hedges. It smells like food, people are singing. Freshly painted posters with political messages are drying in the sun.
One of them reads: "Butcher-Biden is fucked".
Another says: "Stop investing in genocide".
Basil, 23, has been camping at school. Photo: Emelie Svensson
Have camped in the schoolyard
Basil Rodriguez, 23, is one of those who slept in the tents on the Columbia schoolyard for a week. She was there when the police started arresting her friends on Thursday.
- It was heartbreaking. Seeing them hurt because of the Palestine issue is something I will never forget.
The situation was scary, she says. The police surveillance around the university campus makes it look like a "militarized zone".
- This is a school, not a military base. The police have surrounded the campus and at night all buildings are locked. It feels very, monitored, drones are constantly monitoring us. It is nothing compared to what is happening in Gaza , of course, she says.
Protests at the university have been bubbling ever since last fall. The tent camp was set up, and the escalation, came in connection with Columbia Chancellor Minouche Shafik being questioned by the US Congress about widespread anti-Semitism on university campuses.
Among other things, Shafik promised action against students who chant "from the river to the sea".
A pro-Palestinian phrase, which can be interpreted as saying that Israel should be wiped off the map. When Aftonbladet is on site, an anti-Israel protest starts outside the school yard, where about a hundred repeat the words over and over.
In recent days, Jewish students have been asked to stay at home for safety reasons during the anti-Israel protests.
Jewish students feel afraid
Many Jewish students report feeling threatened and fearful after confrontations on campus, and Columbia has therefore begun offering its students distance learning.
The elite university is facing a complete crisis.
Several of the anti-Semitic attacks have been documented on social media:
In one video, a man chants that Jews must prepare for thousands of replays of the October 7th Hamas massacre.
In another, a protester holds a sign saying "Next target for the Al-Qassam Brigades" (the military wing of Hamas), with an arrow pointing at students holding Israeli flags.
President Biden fumed.
He warned of an "alarming rise in extreme anti-Semitism" following the student protests.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul noted on Platform X:
"Threatening Jewish students with violence or glorifying the October 7 terrorist attack, at Columbia or other campuses, is anti-Semitism."
The tent occupation at Columbia University Photo: Emelie Svensson
Held by police for six hours
The city's mayor, Eric Adams, wrote in a statement that he was "appalled and disgusted by the anti-Semitism spewed at and around Columbia University.
Voices are raised for the principal to resign because of the tumult.
Student Basil Rodriguez does not think the accusations against the students are fair.
Their sharp criticism of Israel is not the same as anti-Semitism, she emphasizes.
She dismisses the videos circulating online as occasional exceptions.
What do you say to the Jewish students who don't feel safe on campus?
- We have hundreds of Jewish students with us, who are allies. Several of them were arrested on campus for protesting for Palestine, says Basil.
- This is a beautiful community, rooted in love and care.
One of those who no longer enters the campus is Sarah Borus, 20.
She was arrested on Thursday and held by the police for six hours, she tells Aftonbladet.
- I would do it again, for Palestine. Our university sent the police on us when we were basically just sitting on a lawn.
"I have hope"
Sarah Borus is Jewish, but also wants to mark against Israel and the war in Gaza.
Along with other arrested Jewish students, she held a press conference on Tuesday to criticize university management for barring them from school grounds. Even their home. Indefinitely.
- When I got the message, I was outside the student corridor and couldn't even pick up my things. I had to find a new place to live. According to the email, I had "disrupted security".
Columbia has previously been a central site of violent student protests. Most famous is the rebellion against the Vietnam War in 1968.
Basil Rodriguez and other students see it as stewarding a legacy, and are part of the historic anti-war movement in the United States.
- It has always been students at the forefront of that struggle. When the students are organized and protest in mass waves, that's when the government starts listening. I have hope.
She, like many others at the scene, says they will not leave the tent occupation until Columbia University stops investing in companies with ties to Israel.
- I think it will happen soon. But it could take months, and we're ready for it.
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