Ilhan Omar's (D-MN) daughter was suspended from college due to her antisemitic activism. She attends Barnard College, a private university in New York that maintains an affiliation with Columbia University, whose president had been questioned days earlier by Omar during a congressional hearing.
Isra Hirsi, 21, broke the news on her social networks. The post quickly went viral and reached over 1.5 million views on X.
"I’m an organizer with CU Apartheid Divest Columbia [Student for Justice in Palestine], in my 3 years at Barnard College i have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings. I just received notice that i am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide," the young woman wrote.
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
i just received notice that i am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.
— isra hirsi (@israhirsi) April 18, 2024
"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 added.
Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Omar's colleague in 'The Squad,' a progressive legislative group, asserted that what happened was not coincidental and that what happened at the hearing and Hirsi's suspension are related.
"The day after Ilhan Omar questioned Columbia's leadership's commitment to academic free speech, the school suspended her daughter? It's clear what's going on here. Our educational institutions should not be in the business of political retaliation," he wrote on X.
The day after @IlhanMN questioned Columbia leadership's commitment to free academic expression, the school suspended her daughter? It's clear what is happening here.
Our educational institutions should not be in the business of political reprisals. https://t.co/qX2I83lFrV
— Rep. Jamaal Bowman Ed.D. (@JamaalBowmanNY) April 18, 2024
During the aforementioned congressional hearing, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik was questioned by some lawmakers about antisemitism on campus. Given her antagonistic stance toward Israel, Omar was a bit tougher than her colleagues and even mentioned the presence of an alleged toxic chemical used against demonstrators at a protest, which was eventually disproved by reports.
What happened at Barnard College?
On Wednesday morning, dozens of anti-Israel activists protested on the college campus, setting up camp on the main lawn to demonstrate against the Israel-Hamas war. The event continued late into the night, with calls for an intifada and even the death of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
While Omar did not comment specifically on her daughter's situation, she showed his support for the protesters on the university campus on Wednesday, posting on X that she stood in solidarity with them.
Columbia has always had an incredible history of students fighting for a more just world and it’s good to see that tradition continue. As NYPD surrounds young activists, I hope their concerns are heard by school administrators and they not be criminalized. In solidarity ✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/UV8k3xltKT
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 17, 2024
NYPD officers finally arrested some protesters Thursday morning, prompting a statement from the college to clarify the situation for its students, including Hirsi.
"This morning, April 18, we started to place identified Barnard students remaining in the encampment on interim suspension, and we will continue to do so. Before noon on April 17, Columbia made multiple requests that students participating in the unauthorized encampment leave the lawn. A number of Barnard Senior Staff also went to the lawn to ask Barnard students participating in the encampment to leave and to advise Barnard students that they would be subject to sanctions at Barnard if they did not leave the encampment," the letter stated.
