Due to the Gaza demonstrations, Columbia University cancels the main graduation ceremony

Columbia University announced on Monday that it was canceling two major graduation ceremonies and replacing them with “small-scale celebrations,” due to “security concerns” in the wake of the escalation of pro-Palestinian protests against the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

The university said in a statement that it had decided to cancel a graduation ceremony that was scheduled to be held on May 15, and to honor the students individually alongside their colleagues instead of celebrating at the university level.

The university, which was the reason for organizing similar protests at dozens of American universities, described the past few weeks as “very difficult for our society,” according to the statement.

The students call for a ceasefire in Gaza and demand that their universities cut their financial ties with companies linked to Israel.

The university said in its statement that it consulted with student leaders regarding how to handle the graduation ceremony.

The statement added that most of the celebrations, which were scheduled to be held at the Morningside Heights campus, which is witnessing most of the protests, will be moved to the university's main sports complex.

Last week, New York City police evacuated a building on the Columbia University campus in which pro-Palestinian protesters were holed up, arresting more than 100 protesters and dismantling the camp.

On April 18, students and academics who rejected the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip began a sit-in on the campus of Columbia University in New York, demanding that its administration stop its academic cooperation with Israeli universities and withdraw its investments in companies that support the occupation of Palestinian territories.

With the intervention of police forces and the arrest of dozens of protesters at American universities, the state of anger expanded and the demonstrations spread to universities in countries such as France, Britain, Germany, Canada and India, all of which witnessed demonstrations in support of their counterparts at American universities, and demands to stop the war on Gaza and boycott the companies that supply weapons to Israel.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation forces have been waging a devastating war on Gaza, which has left tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, massive destruction, and famine that has claimed the lives of children and the elderly.

Israel continues its war despite the issuance of an immediate ceasefire resolution by the Security Council, and despite its appearance before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing "genocide."