Pro-Palestine protestors recently stormed Columbia University’s Butler Library, disrupting academic activities, chanting anti-Semitic slogans, and defacing library property.
Among other chants, the protestors openly called for an “intifada,” claiming that it was the only solution to the Israel-Hamas war.
‘Intifada’ is a term used by Hamas and Palestinian sympathizers to call for violent opposition to Israel and the Jewish people.
“There is only one solution,” protestors could be heard chanting. “Intifada revolution.”
After protestors refused to show student IDs when prompted to do so by campus security, Columbia University requested assistance from the New York Police Department (NYPD).
NYPD then made a series of arrests and dispersed the protest.
Columbia’s latest pro-Palestine protest echoes similar campus protests frequently held at universities across the country last year.
During such protests, many protestors openly called for the destruction of the state of Israel, and some have alleged Israel’s existence reflects a “racist settler-colonial ideology.”
Antisemitic speech is considered by the State Department to include expressions claiming Israel’s existence is a racist endeavor or otherwise denying Jews’ self-determination rights.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated Columbia student protestors’ visas will be reviewed and potentially rescinded.
“We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library,” said Secretary Rubio. “Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation.”
Rubio has led an initiative to rescind student visas of individuals supporting foreign terrorist organizations, claiming that doing so contravenes US law and is grounds for visa rescission and deportation.
To expedite the process, the State Department recently launched a ‘catch and revoke’ program, which will harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify and deport Hamas supporters living in the US on an immigrant visa.
