Anti-Israel Encampment Established at Fordham University Hours After Police Raided Others

An anti-Israel encampment was established at Fordham University in New York City on Wednesday, hours after similar ones at other universities were raided.

Tents were seen set up inside a building on the university’s campus as part of a “Gaza solidarity encampment.”

Officers from the New York Police Department (NYPD), dressed in riot gear, began a raid on anti-Israel encampments at Columbia University and the City University of New York (CUNY) late Tuesday evening.

The raids came after anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University had seized control of Hamilton Hall in the early hours of Tuesday morning and smashed the glass doors of the building, carried barriers inside, and hung pro-Palestinian banners from the windows.

BREAKING: Fordham University students launch a Gaza solidarity encampment, just hours after encampments were swept at CCNY and Columbia. pic.twitter.com/bweGVOEref

— Sophie Hurwitz (@sophiehurwitz) May 1, 2024

Video footage posted to X showed protesters gathered outside of Fordham University at the Lincoln Center campus in support of the encampment set up inside.

The crowd could be heard chanting, “Disclose. Divest. We will not stop. We will not rest. Disclose. Divest.”

NOW: Protesters are rallying outside Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus in support of the ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ which was set up earlier this morning

Students inside encampment are rallying with the crowd outside through the windows pic.twitter.com/aHvstN5MbZ

— katie smith (@probablyreadit) May 1, 2024

Several protesters were also seen linking arms outside of the building in an attempt to protect the encampment.

An NYPD bus was also seen splattered with red paint.

Protesters chanted, “We will free Palestine within our lifetime,” and “students, students, hold your ground; NYPD, back down.”

#NOW Students and protesters LINK ARMS to protect Fordham University Encampment in NYC.

Police bus is splashed with red paint.

[email protected] to license pic.twitter.com/O1vtPmbW5p

— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) May 1, 2024

🚨BREAKING: New encampment being launched now at Fordham University at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, NYC. pic.twitter.com/L9HccmiHPB

— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) May 1, 2024

An initial pro-Palestinian encampment was established at Columbia University on April 17, resulting in several students being suspended the next day and hundreds of protesters being arrested.

While Columbia University removed the initial encampment, another one popped up in its place.

Anti-Israel encampments have been established at colleges and universities across the nation, including George Washington University, Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Princeton University, and the University of California Los Angeles.

“Palestine Solidarity Encampment” Assaults Breitbart News at UCLA

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart News

Protesters at the various encampments on college and university campuses have a varying list of demands, including for the universities to divest from Israeli companies, end academic ties with Israeli educational institutions, provide full amnesty for protesters involved in the encampments who have either been suspended or arrested, a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, and for the United States to stop arming Israel.

Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, leaving 1,200 people dead and more than 200 people taken as hostages.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Horror of the Hamas Terror Attack on Civilians at Kibbutz Be’eri in Israel
Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart News

The attack also saw roughly 3,000 Hamas terrorists invade Israel by land, sea, and air and kill concert-goers at a music festival, while others went on to hunt down Jewish men, women, and children, subjecting many to torture, rape, and even death.

In response, Israel has launched a self-defense operation in the Hamas-controlled territory of Gaza.