Some anti-Israel Columbia University graduates torched their newly received, symbolic diplomas outside of the Ivy League school’s commencement ceremony, the New York Post reported on Wednesday.
Inside the graduation on Wednesday morning, protesting anti-Israel students disrupted Columbia President Claire Shipman’s address by shouting “free Palestine,” while graduates holding signs accusing Israel of war crimes burned their diplomas outside the ceremony, according to the New York Post.
The New York City Police Department told JNS that it responded to a protest at about 10:20 a.m. near West 116th Street and Broadway, which involved some 65 participants.
Officers arrested two people and issued them desk appearances, the NYPD told JNS.
A Columbia University spokesperson told JNS that police “managed the small group of protesters outside the gates while the commencement festivities carried on successfully on campus.”
“The university planned and prepared for commencement for months to ensure a safe and celebratory event for the tens of thousands of attendees who joined us on campus,” the spokesperson said. “We are pleased that thousands of our graduates and their families and guests were able to enjoy the events.”
On Tuesday, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, an anti-Israel student group that organized the protest, encouraged students to gather outside the Ivy League school.
“Get loud. Bring noise,” it stated. “No commencement as usual under genocide.”
