1 / 9Tension at Butler Library | New York Police Department officers surround Columbia University’s Butler Library as dozens of pro-Palestinian student protesters occupy the second-floor reading room. The standoff marked one of the most high-profile campus demonstrations since the 2023 Gaza war. The students, masked and defiant, called the space a “Liberated Zone” as they demanded the university divest from companies that support Israel’s military. (Image: Reuters)
2 / 9Arrests Begin Inside the Library | Between 40 to 50 student protesters were arrested by NYPD officers on Wednesday evening. With hands restrained in plastic zip-ties, they were escorted down the steps of Butler Library into waiting police vans and buses. The arrests followed the university’s decision to invite law enforcement onto campus, citing concerns of trespassing and injury to public safety staff during the occupation. (Image: Reuters)
3 / 9Chanting Under Chandeliers | Inside the Lawrence A. Wein Reading Room, students stood atop tables, beating drums and chanting beneath grand chandeliers. Banners reading “Strike For Gaza” and “Liberated Zone” adorned the historic library’s walls. Videos posted online showed the vibrancy and resolve of the demonstrators, even as police moved in to end the occupation. (Image: Reuters)
4 / 9Pushing, Shoving, and Lockdowns | Before police stormed the building, Columbia’s public safety personnel locked the library doors, blocking more students from entering. Outside, tensions flared. Protesters clashed briefly with security, resulting in at least one student injury. Another person was carried out on a stretcher as the scene turned chaotic. (Image: Reuters)
5 / 9The Crowd Grows Outside | With entry blocked, demonstrators spilled into the streets just beyond Columbia’s gates. Their chants echoed through Morningside Heights as calls for divestment, justice for Palestine, and the release of detained activist Mahmoud Khalil reverberated. Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia, remains in detention in Louisiana and faces deportation. (Image: Reuters)
6 / 9Accusations and Political Fallout | The protest reignited political tensions. Former President Donald Trump, who has labeled campus protests antisemitic, has also pushed for deportation of pro-Palestinian international students. Columbia’s board has been negotiating with the Trump administration, which froze hundreds of millions in research funding, further complicating the university’s stance. (Image: Reuters)
7 / 9‘We are not antisemitic’ | Protest organisers, including Jewish students, pushed back against accusations of antisemitism, stating their movement targets state violence and military occupation—not religion. Civil rights groups have raised concerns that the university is compromising academic freedom under political pressure. (Image: Reuters)
8 / 9Divestment Demands Resurface | Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of student groups, renewed their longstanding call for the university to stop investing its $14.8 billion endowment in weapons manufacturers and companies supporting Israeli occupation. Their message: protest is a form of accountability, not hatred. (Image: Reuters)
9 / 9A Nationwide Movement | Wednesday’s events followed similar protests across the country. At the University of Washington, 34 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested earlier in the week. Among them, 21 students have now been suspended and banned from campus. The student movement that ignited at Columbia continues to ripple through American universities. (Image: Reuters)
