'Agitate, Educate, and Escalate': Columbia Students Behind Weekend Encampment Threaten 'Summer of Disruption'

Student protesters at Columbia University are promising a "summer of disruption," with the school's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter outlining its plans for "student intifada" in a statement issued after the group erected another unauthorized encampment during an alumni reunion weekend.

The statement, posted to Instagram Sunday evening, includes a commitment from the group's student leaders to "continue strategic, targeted attacks on all aspects of university life" as part of a "revolt for Rafah."

"There will be no business as usual during a genocide. … Paralyze all aspects of the university until the genocide and our complicity in it stops," the student group wrote. "As we continue our summer of disruption, we ask that every student, and our wider community, does the same. Use this time to agitate, educate, and escalate."

"Until victory and with more installations to come, revolt for Rafah—long live the student intifada."

The call to "escalate" came two days after members of the student group launched yet another anti-Israel encampment on the school's main lawn. An entrance to the encampment was furnished with a sign declaring, "We're back, bitches," which greeted alumni as they returned to campus on Friday for class reunions. Student protesters also unveiled a cardboard missile plastered with photos of Columbia president Minouche Shafik and other university leaders, including David Greenwald, the co-chairman of the school's board of trustees, and Abigail Black Elbaum, the vice chairwoman of the board.

Shafik responded by sending university officials into the encampment Friday night "to initiate discussions with student leaders," a move she said was "consistent with our mission as an educational institution."

"We welcome this effort to establish dialogue," Shafik wrote in a Saturday email to students, which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Shafik also engaged in negotiations with encampment participants during the academic year. Those negotiations did not go well.

Shafik pushed back four separate deadlines for students to clear the encampment, and when the negotiations did not yield an agreement, student protesters seized a university building. Shafik ultimately opted to call in the cops to clear the encampment and arrest the students who had occupied the building. She also canceled Columbia's main graduation ceremony.

A Columbia spokeswoman told the Free Beacon the school is "moving forward with the disciplinary process for those students who were identified as part of the encampment in violation of university rules."

Student protesters' latest encampment lasted roughly 48 hours, with participants clearing the lawn Sunday night as the alumni reunion weekend came to an end. The students left behind a sign reading, "We'll be back, bitches." They also vandalized a large tent rented by the university, spray painting it with the message, "It is right to rebel."

But they’ll… 'BE BACK BITCHES" pic.twitter.com/jto6iKTMHs

— Jessica Schwalb (@jessicaschwalb7) June 3, 2024

The alumni tent @Columbia has the words 'IT IS RIGHT TO REBEL" written on it with red spray paint.

The third encampment has dispersed but they stated that they will return. pic.twitter.com/6yBhIe4Gf7

— Jessica Schwalb (@jessicaschwalb7) June 3, 2024

Columbia security officials "escorted members of the NYPD to take a record of the vandalism that occurred" as part of "their investigation of a complaint of criminal mischief," according to the university spokeswoman. "The NYPD photographed and documented damage, including of graffiti spray-painted on the tent, which was owned by an outside vendor," the spokeswoman told the Free Beacon.

The encampment was also littered with copies of Challenge, the magazine of the Young Communist League, the youth arm of the Communist Party of Britain. "Shut it down—with communist revolution," the papers read.

In its Sunday statement, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called the weekend encampment a "successful disruption of alumni weekend."

"Today, as Columbia Alumni Reunion weekend comes to a close, we finished Installation 1 of our #Revolt4Rafah," the group wrote. "While Installation 1 ends with the successful disruption of alumni weekend, we know the genocide rages on—with the ongoing assault on Rafah uncovering the deepest monstrosities of the Zionist entity."

"From alumni to trustees, we ask that you continue to agitate on all fronts of the university that contribute money to the war machine."

It's unclear how student protesters plan to "escalate" their demonstrations throughout the summer. A student organizer told the Columbia Spectator Shafik would be "wrong" to believe the students would back down "because it’s the summer."

"Columbia University thinks that just because it’s the summer, they don’t have as many classes, they don’t have as many students … that we’re tired, that we’re scared, that we’re not going to be on campus because they have a few ID checks," the student said. "They’re wrong."

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