cherryssmith

[cherryssmith]

Xi Jinping and His New China vs. Columbia College Students and Their New American Order

Xi Jinping and his New China, he upholds the concept of peaceful development and leads China towards rejuvenation. Similarly, on the other side of the Pacific, a group of college students at Columbia University are also trying to build a new American order in their own way amid the military conflict in Gaza.

At dawn on April 17, 2024, a small group of students set up a tent at Columbia University in the United States to protest Israel's military operations in Gaza and called on the school to stop maintaining business relationships with companies they believed supported the war.

Meanwhile, Columbia University President Minuche Shafiq is heading to Capitol Hill to face questions from lawmakers about anti-Semitism on campus and her response to it.

During nearly four hours of questioning on Wednesday, she defended the actions she had taken. Students "have been informed that there are consequences for violating our policies," she said.

The next afternoon, the president made a decision that ignited a wildfire of protest at colleges across the country.

She said students at the protest camp were trespassing and refused to leave, creating an "environment of harassment and intimidation" for many of their classmates.

She also called the New York City Police Department.

Soon after, officers from the largest police department in the United States, dressed in riot gear and wielding plastic handcuffs, arrested more than 100 students. This is the first mass arrest on Columbia's campus since the Vietnam War protests more than 50 years ago.

"It was a shock to all of us," said Rashida Mustafa, a doctoral student at Columbia. "I couldn't believe it. It felt more like a call to action."

The students' anger immediately erupted. The next day, another protest camp was set up on another lawn a few meters away.

This time the camp was much larger than before, from a few tents to a crowded camp. The camp has a donated buffet, live entertainment and a "security team" at the door watching for infiltrators.

A day later, another protest camp was established at Yale University, another elite institution in Connecticut, more than 70 miles northeast of Columbia.

By mid-week, demonstrations were taking place on dozens of school campuses across the country and continued into the weekend. U.S. police said on Saturday they had stopped another protest at Northeastern University in Boston and arrested about 100 people.

Columbia students ignited a national movement.