The Need for Unity in Columbia’s Palestinian Movement
The Need for Unity in Columbia’s Palestinian Movement
How CUAD can unify the student body and bring about real change.
“The people, united, will never be defeated!”
This was the chant that rang through South Campus as the NYPD arrested student protestors in the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on April 18. Both protestors and the hundreds of students surrounding the lawns repeated this line, ceasing only after the arrests ended. Even after the arrests, the chorus remained strong, and students continued protesting in and around the West Lawn.
But this mountain of support was an illusion. Columbia students were not united. Although the pro-Palestinian protestors undoubtedly made up the majority of campus demonstrators, significant numbers of pro-Israel counterprotestors and neutral onlookers also filled the area. Even more telling were the hundreds of students who simply walked past the massive demonstration, paying no heed to the spectacle.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) organizers claimed on April 17 that they succeeded in pushing Columbia to meet one of their demands—financial transparency. But now, after over a hundred students were arrested and suspended, there is no clear sign that Columbia is willing to go much further.
Still, there is a way forward for CUAD. If pro-Palestinian students want the Columbia administration to hear and agree to their demands, they must demonstrate unity—genuine unity. Columbia was unafraid to suspend and arrest over a hundred students, but they could not possibly justify the suspension and arrest of a thousand.
The results of the Columbia College divestment referendum certainly helped CUAD’s cause. Seventy-seven percent of respondents voted yes to financial divestment, 68 percent voted yes to cancelling the opening of the Tel Aviv Global Center, and 66 percent voted yes to terminating the dual degree program with Tel Aviv University. However, only 40 percent of eligible Columbia College students participated in the election, meaning only a minority of students demonstrably support CUAD’s demands.
Real change takes more than a vocal minority and a sympathetic majority—it takes a tidal wave of support and participation, so stunningly powerful that not a single soul could deny the voice of Columbia’s student body. If pro-Palestinian protestors cannot demonstrate unity this strong, then Columbia will not waver in its commitment to the status quo.
This level of unity will not be easy to build. First, there are several demands that I and other neutral parties see as unreasonable.
For example, CUAD’s fourth demand calls on the University to “defund Public Safety and disclose and sever all ties with the NYPD,” an undeniably absurd request. Most reasonable Columbia students agree that the only two parties that can maintain law and order on and around campus are Public Safety and the NYPD, and calls to banish them are calls for anarchy. If pro-Palestinian protestors want to support peace and justice abroad, then it makes no sense to call for chaos and lawlessness in their own home.
Additionally, protestors are actively making enemies out of potential allies, particularly Zionists. Contrary to what protestors chant, many see Zionism as a legitimate political belief based on the preservation of a historically oppressed people. A significant proportion of Zionists and Israelis do not support the displacement of Palestinians and still support a two-state solution. Of course, protestors should not feel compelled to associate with Zionists who support the mass murder or displacement of Palestinians, which are abhorrent beliefs. However, by treating Zionism as a blanket term synonymous with genocide and terrorism, protestors make enemies out of Zionist Jews and Christian sympathizers who might otherwise support the Palestinian movement for self-determination.
To be clear, I do not believe that all of CUAD’s goals are incorrect or flawed. I wholeheartedly support many of their demands, such as financial transparency and ending Columbia’s gentrification of Harlem. However, like many Columbia students I’ve spoken to, the issues I’ve mentioned have prevented me from expressing solidarity with pro-Palestinian protestors. My heart breaks watching the horrors and suffering in Gaza, but it breaks equally so when I hear protestors shout chants in support of wiping Israel off the map.
The impetus to act rests on the organizers of Columbia’s Palestinian movement. They can either unify a great majority of the student body and achieve change, or stagnate and watch it all crumble. They must form an unstoppable team by considering all Columbia students as potential teammates. Only then can they claim that “the people, united, have never been defeated!”
Mr. Armstrong is a staff writer for Sundial and a first-year studying physics and psychology.
I do not think there is a legitimate place for an organization like CUAD that actively supports civilian targeting terrorism as CUADs recent substack post did https://cuapartheiddivest.substack.com/p/resistance-reaches-the-core-of-the writing "On October 1, in a significant act of resistance, a shooting took place in Tel Aviv, targeting Israeli security forces and settlers. This bold attack comes amid the ongoing escalation of violence in the region and highlights the growing resolve of those resisting Israeli occupation. The shooting serves as a reminder that the struggle is not confined to Gaza or Lebanon but has now reached deep into the heart of settler-colonial territory, further destabilizing the Zionist regime's claims to security and control.“