On Wednesday, approximately 100 anti-genocide student protesters occupied the main reading room of Butler Library at Columbia University. The group renamed the space “Basel Al-Araj Popular University” in honor of the Palestinian activist and writer Basel Al-Araj, who was killed by Israeli forces in 2017. The protesters are demonstrating against the ongoing Israeli military actions in Gaza and what they perceive as the university’s complicity in genocide. Their actions reflect a broader wave of student activism sweeping across US campuses, demanding universities divest from companies with ties to Israel and calling for an end to the violence in Gaza.
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