Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus protests during the Gaza war

During the Gaza war and genocide, Columbia University in New York City has been the site of student activism—including a series of protests, encampments, and occupations—in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza and against what student protesters have described as the university's complicity in the genocide. The main demand of the Gaza solidarity protest movement at Columbia was that the university disinvest from Israel. The university's administration and the federal government have sought to repress the protests, which they have called antisemitic. In 2025, the university became a focus of President Donald Trump, whose administration, citing what it called widespread antisemitism at Columbia, cut $400 million in funding to Columbia, detained and attempted to deport Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, and investigated Columbia for Title VI violations. In a settlement with Trump, Columbia agreed to pay over $200 million, adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism, and accept other demands.

On October 12, 2023, Columbia's chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) held the first protest, demanding that Columbia address Palestinian humanity, disinvest from Israel, cancel the CU Tel Aviv Global Center, and stop the dual degree program with Tel Aviv University. Columbia's administration adjusted its protest policies and suspended SJP and JVP for organizing an "unauthorized" walkout on November 10. At a November 14 rally, a coalition of 80+ student groups was announced as Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which continued to organize protest activity with six demands, including an immediate ceasefire, divestment from companies profiting from Israeli apartheid, and an end to vilification of pro-Palestinian activism.

On April 17, 2024, Columbia students established the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the East Butler Lawn. They were arrested the next day, after Columbia president Minouche Shafik called in the New York City Police Department (NYPD). The arrests marked the first time Columbia allowed police to suppress campus protests since the 1968 demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Shortly after the mass arrest and dismantling of the initial camp, other students autonomously occupied the adjacent lawn and established another encampment there, holding it for several days as students negotiated with the administration. The Columbia encampments encouraged other actions at multiple universities and led to the proliferation of Palestine solidarity encampments at over 180 universities around the world.

On April 29, after Shafik announced that negotiations had failed, protesters occupied Hamilton Hall, calling it Hind's Hall in honor of Hind Rajab. After less than 24 hours, the NYPD was summoned again. Hundreds of NYPD officers broke into and cleared the hall, arrested more than 100 protesters, and fully dismantled the camp. On May 31, a third campus encampment was briefly established in response to an alumni reunion.

Several antisemitic incidents took place near the protests. Organizers have said they were the work of outside agitators and non-students. Jewish pro-Palestinian protesters have said that incidents of antisemitism by protesters are not representative of their movement. Shafik announced her resignation as president on August 14. In 2025, the Trump administration threatened to cut Columbia's federal funding and instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain and deport international students who participated in the protests. In July 2025, the university disciplined at least 70 students who took part in campus protests with probation, suspensions, degree revocations, and expulsions.