Key points
- Demonstrators protested against ex-Israeli PM Bennett
- Many protesters wore traditional Palestinian keffiyehs
- All federal funding will stop for any varsity that allows illegal protests: Trump
ISLAMABAD: Over 200 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered Tuesday in front of Columbia University in New York to demonstrate against former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, who was at the campus for a speaking engagement.
According to AFP, after more than a year of protests at the campus over the war on Gaza, the appearance of the former Prime Minister of Israel’s far-right was met with expected pushback.
The decision to host a man with such a violent and openly discriminatory record sends a message that the university values some voices over others,” AFP cited the statement of a spokesperson for Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition — one of the groups “taking part in the protest.
Traditional Palestinian keffiyehs
Many of the protesters wore traditional Palestinian keffiyehs, according to AFP. Police at the scene worked to separate the protest from a small group of pro-Israel counter-demonstrators nearby, though the two demonstrations passed without any incident.
The protest was held at the same time as US President Donald Trump’s administration threatened federal funding for the New York University.
“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump wrote Tuesday on his platform Truth Social.
“Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on …the crime, arrested,” the post continued.
