The parents of students disciplined at Columbia University for pro-Palestine activism have condemned the university's actions, describing them as an act of cowardice. They say their children are among more than 100 students arrested, suspended or expelled for protesting against the conflict in Gaza, which they describe as a genocide.
The parents' two children were arrested on 7 May 2025 during a teach-in at Columbia's largest library. Participants renamed the building the "Basel Al-Araj Popular University" in honour of the Palestinian activist assassinated by Israeli police in 2017. The event included readings of works by Al-Araj and Ghassan Kanafani, a Palestinian scholar assassinated by Mossad in 1972.
Drawing on their own involvement in campus activism in the 1980s, the parents note that Columbia divested from apartheid South Africa in 1985 after years of student pressure. They argue that the current disciplinary sanctions, described as the most extensive for a single political protest in Columbia's history, represent a "Palestine exception" to free speech and assembly.
The disciplinary measures bar students from campus, including library access, faculty consultation, paid work and healthcare. The parents say the sacrifices made by these activists demonstrate that the wellbeing of students is of no concern to Columbia's leadership.
