Columbia extends protest deadline after students agree to dismantle some tents

NEW YORK: Columbia University students agreed to take down “a significant number” of the dozens of tents set up on the school’s main campus as part of a protest against Israel’s incursion into Gaza, the New York school said on Wednesday.

The concession by protesters was part of a deal under which Columbia agreed to extend by 48 hours a midnight deadline for the entire encampment to come down, it said in a statement, pointing to “significant progress” in the talks.

A representative of the protesters, who have occupied a lawn at the center of the upper Manhattan campus for days, could not be reached immediately for comment.

The university on Tuesday threatened to invite law enforcement to dismantle the encampment if students had not done so by midnight. On Friday, New York police arrested more than 100 protesters at the encampment at the behest of administrators.

“The encampment raises serious safety concerns, disrupts campus life, and has created a tense and at times hostile environment for many members of our community,” Columbia President Minouche Shafik said late on Tuesday, before the agreement to extend the negotiating deadline. “It is essential that we move forward with a plan to dismantle it.”

The protesters had vowed to keep the protest going until the university agreed to disclose and divest any financial holdings that might support the war in Gaza and granted amnesty to students suspended from school during the demonstrations.

In addition to removing a significant number of tents, the university said student leaders had agreed to make sure that anyone unaffiliated with Columbia leaves the campus, that any activity complies with fire safety rules and that protesters refrain from any discriminatory or harassing language.