Watch as Columbia University students discuss request to vacate protest encampment

Watch as students from Columbia University hold a press conference after the school ordered them to vacate their protest encampment.

Columbia University’s president said on Monday (29 April) that talks with pro-Palestinian protesters over the dismantling of an encampment on the Ivy League campus had failed and urged them to voluntarily disperse or face suspension from school.

President Nemat Minouche Shafik said days of talks between student organisers and academic leaders had failed to break a stalemate over the tent encampment set up to protest Israel’s war in Gaza.

Ms Shafik in a statement said Columbia would not divest assets that support Israel’s military, a key demand of the protesters, but offered to invest in health and education in Gaza, and make Columbia’s direct investment holdings more transparent.

Protesters have vowed to keep their encampment on the Manhattan campus until Columbia meets three demands: divestment, transparency in Columbia’s finances and amnesty for students and faculty disciplined for their part in the protests.