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Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall signed a letter from a coalition of attorneys general praising Columbia University for resisting student demands that the school divest from Israel.
The letter, co-led by attorneys general from South Carolina and Arkansas, was sent directly to Columbia University Interim President Katrina Armstrong, MD, and signed by 25 total attorneys general. Their main goal was to “raise grave concerns about antisemitism on the campus” to Armstrong and “encourage [her] administration to hold the line.”
The protests at Columbia escalated in April, when pro-Palestinian students established an encampment of approximately 50 tents on the university campus, calling it the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, and demanded the university divest from Israel.
After many protests, arrests, failed negotiations and suspended organizations, demonstrations continued on campus more subduedly when classes began this semester.
The letter then highlights troubling statements from pro-Palestinian protesters, including one member of the group Columbia University Apartheid Divest, who said the school was “lucky he wasn’t out killing Zionists.”
Since the initial demand for divestment, students have not faltered. After the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks, new tensions began to surface.
“On October 9, 2024, Columbia University Apartheid Divest rescinded an apology it made after one of its members said the school was lucky he wasn’t out killing Zionists. ‘We support liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance,’” the letter reads.
The attorneys general commend Columbia for its decision not to divest from Israel and encourage the administration to uphold this stance despite pressure from some pro-Palestinian student groups. The coalition cited this issue as a “matter of special concern to the states because students from across the country attend Columbia University.”
“While balancing student speech rights against credible threats to people and property can be a delicate task, declining to divest should be an easy call,” the letter reads.
