Columbia University Students defied an ultimatum set by their administration after talks over demonstrations supporting Gaza have faltered, on Monday, while in Paris, authorities cleared up student protests at Sorbonne University. 

Student demonstrators at Columbia University on Monday defied an ultimatum to disperse or face immediate suspension, as tensions rose at the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests that have erupted at US colleges.

Police arrested around 275 people on four separate campuses across the United States over the weekend, with the White House calling on the demonstrations to remain peaceful.

Authorities at Columbia in New York issued a statement on Monday saying the protestors’ encampment must be cleared, and adding that the university would not divest financial holdings linked to Israel — a key demand of demonstrators.

Protests against the Gaza war, with its high civilian death toll among Palestinians, have posed a challenge to university administrators trying to balance free speech rights with complaints that the rallies have veered into anti-Semitism and threats of violence.

The university had been in talks since last week with protest leaders over clearing the encampment, but “regretfully we were not able to come to an agreement,” said the Columbia University President. The university said it offered to speed up a review of student proposals for divestment and to improve transparency.

French Students Follows Suit

French police on Monday broke up a student protest demanding an end to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza at one of the country’s best-known universities, an AFP journalist said.

Law enforcement evacuated dozens of demonstrators from the premises of the Sorbonne in Paris after they had set up tents inside.
Education authorities earlier said the students had set up 12 tents in the courtyard and hallway of the university, causing exams to be cancelled. One student said they had set up more than 20.

The university said it was closing as no one had been able to enter the campus since noon. Outside the premises, around 150 people had been protesting as well.
“We’re here following the call from students at Harvard and Columbia,” said Sorbonne student and activist Lorelia Frejo to AFP, referring to similar pro-Palestinian sit-ins in the United States.

The protest at the Sorbonne comes after several such demonstrations at Sciences Po Paris, also one of France’s most prestigious universities. Police cleared a protest at Sciences Po early on Thursday. But protesters maintained their sit-in the next day before university management agreed to soon hold an internal debate, including on the right to protest.

The President of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse, had announced on Monday her intention to suspend funding allocated to Sciences Po Paris, “until calm and security are restored.”

With AFP