NEW YORK (NewsNation) — Presidential candidate, activist and philosopher Cornel West came to the defense of Columbia University students who are protesting the ongoing war in Gaza.
“You can see that those peaceful students were in no way a clear and present danger. Not at all,” West told “NewsNation Now” on Friday. “They were siphoned off in front of the library; people could walk back and forth. And you had a number of people there trying to engage in what a university is supposed to be about: Socratic dialogue.”
New York police on Thursday removed a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Columbia University and arrested more than 100 demonstrators, including the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Police said 108 people, including Omar’s daughter Isra Hirsi, were charged with trespassing at the private Ivy League institution. Two people were also charged with obstructing government administration.
West, who was among those protesting, said he was “blessed” to be able to be there and lend support to the demonstrating students.
“I was deeply blessed to be in solidarity with my brothers and sisters zeroing in on that indescribable suffering in Gaza,” said West. “They were courageous, they were visionary, and they were holding their own even as the New York Police Department came in and made arrests.”
West was also adamant that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, pointing to the more than 30,000 killed, widespread hunger and displacement of Palestinians.
“We’ve got war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide,” West said. “But when you’re talking about 15,000 precious Palestinian babies who have been killed in six months, and over 35,000 innocent people who have been killed in six months, that’s a level of terrorism.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in November that “far too many” Palestinians have died in Israel’s war against the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. He said he has urged Israel to minimize harm to civilians and maximize humanitarian assistance that reaches them.
“When you’re killing innocent people, that’s what terrorism is,” West said. “Any group that kills innocent people are (sic) involved in terrorist activity.”
West, however, pushed back on claims that Hamas itself is a terrorist organization. The Sunni Islamist political and military movement has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., European Union, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, Paraguay, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
“Hamas itself is not simply a military organization,” West said. “It’s a service organization. They have infrastructure, provide food, they provide social services. Hamas is a part of Palestinian resistance.”
