‘Failure of leadership’: Lawmaker demands Columbia president resign
- Student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza have spread nationally
- Ortt: The National Guard should be called into Columbia
- Protesters are calling for universities to stop doing business with Israel
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NEW YORK (NewsNation) — New York State Sen. Robert Ortt echoed calls for the National Guard to be sent to Columbia University and for President Minouche Shafik to step down as pro-Palestine protesters continue their demonstration on the Manhattan campus.
“There’s no question she should resign,” Ortt, a Republican, said on “NewsNation Now.”
Inspired by ongoing protests and the arrests last week of more than 100 at Columbia University, students at a growing number of U.S. colleges are gathering in protest encampments with a unified demand of their schools: Stop doing business with Israel or any companies that support its ongoing war in Gaza.
“(Columbia administrators) have allowed outside groups SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine), which has direct ties to Hezbollah, as well as other terror groups in the Middle East,” said Ortt.
Israeli lobbying groups in the U.S. have accused SJP of being funded by Hamas; however, no known proof exists of a direct link between the student activist group and the militant group in the Palestinian territories.
Ortt also took aim at Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for calling in the National Guard to “search handbags and purses” on city subways but not deploying it to Columbia’s campus.
“Clearly, I believe the (National Guard) is needed” at Columbia University, said Ortt.
