Trouble doesn’t stray far from the family tree, and it looks like Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) offspring is no exception. Barnard College has put the kibosh on three students, including Omar’s daughter, for setting up an unauthorized pro-Palestine shindig right on Columbia University’s turf.
These rebels without a cause—Maryam Iqbal, Soph Askanase, and the notorious Isra Hirsi (yep, that’s Omar’s kid)—were slapped with suspensions handed down via a no-nonsense email from Dean Leslie Grinage. The trio’s so-called “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” didn’t sit well with the brass, especially after ignoring several warnings to cut it out.
Remember last year when mama Omar got booted from the cushy Foreign Affairs Committee for her alleged anti-Semitic banter? Like mother, like daughter, right?
Their encampment was about the injustices Palestinians face, demanding Columbia pull its bucks from companies not playing nice with human rights. And who pops up endorsing this campus circus? Rep. Omar herself, fresh from a Capitol Hill gabfest.
“We’ve been visible, the three of us, and have been giving interviews with our government names. But it’s also like, we know that we are, there’s no hiding … for us, like they will find us. We’re pretty visible even as people, like Maryam has been a speaker at multiple protests,” Hirsi claimed.
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“Some of us, like I have colored hair and pretty colored glasses, I’ve spoken at pretty much every protest too,” Hirsi added, unwittingly painting a bullseye on their own backs.
Well, that spotlight got a bit harsher when the university decided enough was enough. According to a Columbia mouthpiece, those found at the encampment faced suspension. Period. The school wasn’t playing around, doling out written ultimatums that demanded protestors pack up by 9 p.m. or face the music.
“By 7 p.m. on the same day, the Barnard Senior Staff had distributed written warnings to the participants, clearly stating, ‘Students would receive interim suspensions if they did not leave the encampment by 9 p.m. on April 17,'” the school warned.
Come the morning after their little deadline, the administration began its crackdown, putting foot-draggers on interim suspension and locking down parts of campus to quell any further shenanigans.
“I’m an organizer with CU Apartheid Divest @ColumbiaSJP, in my 3 years at @BarnardCollege I have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings,” Hirsi tweeted shortly after the suspension notice.
those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated. we will stand resolute until our demands are met.
our demands include divestment from companies complicit in genocide, transparency of @Columbia’s investments and FULL amnesty for all students facing repression
— isra hirsi (@israhirsi) April 18, 2024
“I just received notice that I am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide… those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated. We will stand resolute until our demands are met… our demands include divestment from companies complicit in genocide, transparency of @Columbia ’s investments and FULL amnesty for all students facing repression,” she declared with fiery resolve.
As the campus waits to see what other disciplinary fireworks might go off, the suspended students can try appealing their suspensions. But if their past decisions are anything to go by, don’t hold your breath for a mea culpa anytime soon.
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