Four Columbia students were suspended and evicted from university housing after their alleged involvement in an unauthorized speaking event featuring a member of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US.
On March 24, a "Resistance 101" event featured Khaled Barakat who is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The organization has been designated as a foreign terrorist group since 1997.
The event was announced by the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine on March 22 in coordination with the Barnard Center for Research on Women.
Six students were initially given notice about the suspensions following the event this past Wednesday, but two were lifted on Thursday, according to the Columbia Spectator.
Documents obtained by the school paper revealed one student received preliminary violations including endangerment, violation of law, violation of University policy, and “failure to comply.”
When the university was informed of the speech from Barakat, Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway wrote in a statement that the school “immediately notified law enforcement” and “banned the outside speakers from campus.”
A statement from Columbia University President Minouche Shafik released Friday stated, "On March 24, an event took place at a campus residential facility that the University had already barred, twice, from occurring. It featured speakers who are known to support terrorism and promote violence."
"I want to state for the record that this event is an abhorrent breach of our values. I also want to update our community on the actions which have been underway as a result," the university president added.
Video highlights from the speaking event, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, featured antisemitic praise for the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel.
Speaker and terrorist group-affiliated Khaled Barakat stated that the Oct. 7 terrorist attack showed "the potential of a future for Palestine liberated from Zionism" and that it was "one of the most important tactics that the Palestinian resistance have engaged in."
Since the suspension of the students, the student group that announced the speaking event shared a post on their Instagram story from "The Slow Factory" criticizing the word "terrorist" as a "racial slur" against Arabs.
The pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime posted in solidarity and in support of the suspended students.
The event also Within Our Lifetime founder Nerdeen Kiswani, as well as Charlotte Kates, wife of Barakat and member of Israeli-designated terrorist group Samidoun, according to the Free Beacon.
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