JUST IN: Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Ilham Omar, has been arrested and suspended from her school after refusing to leave a protest. She was protesting what is happening to Gaza. pic.twitter.com/0hoKW1YQVg It felt really really horrific to be standing by and watching students, so so many of whom I knew, being arrested.Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi, was arrested at a pro-Palestine sit-in on Thursday, just hours after announcing her suspension from Barnard College over her involvement in the protests.
Hirsi, 21, was among 108 people arrested by riot police at a protest tent encampment on the Columbia University campus.
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_in_Flint) April 18, 2024
Here's Isra Hirsi. pic.twitter.com/GuhjJeN15w
— Shayoni Mitra (@ShayoniMitra) April 18, 2024
According to a report from the Daily Mail, the protesters were given trespassing summonses.
The report explains:Swathes of defiant students were seen being arrested and moved on to NYPD corrections buses. Some had to be physically carried away from the encampment.
The mob did not only take over the lawn in front of the Ivy League college, but pro-Palestine supporters also flooded the streets outside the school, waving flags and chanting - as has become the norm since Hamas' terror attack on October 7.
The 60-tent encampment, set up ahead of Columbia's prestigious commencement and ultimately lasted just over 30 hours, was organized in a desperate bid to get the school to divest from Israel.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement after the arrests were made, "After numerous warnings issued by campus security and the NYPD the students and those who were occupying the space, NYPD officers moved in to ensure the safety of the campus, the students and the staff."
"Columbia University's students have a proud history of protests and raising their voices, but we will not be a city of lawlessness," Adams added.
In a post on X earlier in the day, Hirsi wrote that she had been an organizer with Columbia University Apartheid Divest for the last three years. i’m an organizer with CU Apartheid Divest @ColumbiaSJP, in my 3 years at @BarnardCollege i have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings
i just received notice that i am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.
— isra hirsi (@israhirsi) April 18, 2024
According to a statement from Apartheid Divest, the other two students suspended are Maryam Iqbal and Soph Dinu.
Hirsi explained that throughout her time organizing with the group, she has "never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings" but just received a notice that she was one of three students suspended for involvement with the protests.
“This decision is based on information received from Columbia University Public Safety that you have been involved in an unauthorized encampment on the Columbia University campus and you have not ceased participation in this unauthorized encampment despite repeated requests from Barnard and Columbia on April 17, 2024 that you do so,” Barnard Dean Leslie Grinage wrote in an email to the students on Thursday morning, according to the activist group. those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated. we will stand resolute until our demands are met.
our demands include divestment from companies complicit in genocide, transparency of @Columbia’s investments and FULL amnesty for all students facing repression
— isra hirsi (@israhirsi) April 18, 2024
In a subsequent post on X, the politician's daughter wrote, "Those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated" and "will stand resolute until our demands are met." Demands include "divestment from companies complicit in genocide," transparency regarding Columbia's investments, and "FULL amnesty for all students facing repression."
