Columbia making 'progress' with pro-Palestinian protesters on campus

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) – Columbia University is making "important progress" with pro-Palestinian protesters who have been camping out on campus since last week, according to school officials.

The school had given the protesters a deadline of midnight Wednesday to dismantle the encampments set up on the West Lawn of the Morningside campus. Protesters and police were seen going head-to-head around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, with someone being pushed to the ground and another being arrested.

Police could not confirm if anyone was charged.

Columbia University officials said that while students have the right to demonstrate, the encampments raise safety concerns and create a tense and hostile environment.

Students are demanding the school divest from companies they claim “profit from Israeli apartheid” and the Israeli military action in Gaza.

Protesters have committed to dismantling and removing a significant number of tents, according to school officials. The demonstrators also agreed that only Columbia University students will participate in the protests and that discriminatory or harassing language is prohibited.

Conversations with protesting students will continue for the next 48 hours, school officials said.

Some students have been supportive of their classmates who are protesting, while others told PIX11 News they don't feel safe on campus.

Only currently enrolled students and faculty can go onto campus and classes have gone hybrid for the rest of the semester. House Majority Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to visit the university Wednesday and hold a news conference while visiting with Jewish students.

Numerous protests calling on universities to divest from Israel have been taking place around the U.S., including The New School and NYU.