Columbia University submits to US government demands to crack down on pro-Palestine protest, in return for $400 million in funds

Columbia University has capitulated to a series of demands by the United States’ government to crack down on pro-Palestine protests, in an effort to have $400 million in federal funding returned to it.

Earlier this month, the government cancelled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University, accusing it of supporting anti-semitism on its New York campus over the widespread pro-Palestine protests carried out by students over the past year against Israel’s genocidal offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Hours before an extended deadline set by the government was to expire on the matter on Friday, the university released a memo outlining its agreement to the Trump administration’s demands for measures that serve as a precondition for the return of the federal funding.

Submitting to most of the government’s demands, the measures the university agreed to include the banning of face masks on campus, severely restricting protests and demonstrations on camps, empowering security officers to remove or arrest individuals, and even on giving control of the institution’s Middle East studies and relevant departments and curriculum to US authorities.

READ: Columbia warns journalism students to stay silent on Gaza or risk arrest

Regarding the government’s takeover of that faculty, the university memo stated that a new official will oversee that transfer, and that “the Senior Vice Provost will review the educational programs to ensure the educational offerings are comprehensive and balanced”.

That review would begin with programs focused on the Middle East, such as the Center for Palestine Studies, the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, and the Middle East Institute. The new official would also reportedly control the review process for hiring the university’s non-tenured staff and for approving curricular changes.

So far, the status of the frozen funds to the university remains unclear, with a response by the White House to Columbia University’s memo having not yet been released.

The university’s capitulation to the Trump administration and its pressure over alleged anti-semitism has caused significant concern over the fate of at least 60 other universities that the government has also warned of potential action if they do not toe the line with regards to pro-Palestinian sentiment and criticism of Israel’s offensive on Gaza and its military occupation of Palestinian territories.

READ: Giving in to Trump, Columbia Uni expels, suspends student activists for Palestine