Copyright: Reuters
We’ve been hearing a lot about Hamilton Hall today, which is the academic building protesters at Columbia University have forcibly taken over.
The building, opened in 1907, is on the university’s Morningside campus in New York City. It’s an eight-storey building home to the Slavic and Germanic language, and classics departments, and it’s named after Alexander Hamilton, one of the men known as the Founding Fathers of the United States.
But there is symbolism in its seizure.
Back in 1968, Columbia students protesting the Vietnam War and in favour of the Civil Rights Movement for black Americans occupied the building and several others exactly 56 years ago to the day.
In the end, police violently cleared that demonstration, with more than 700 arrests and some 150 people injured.
Echoing language from that protest, an Instagram account affiliated with Columbia University Apartheid Divest – one of the main groups involved in this occupation – wrote: “This building has now been liberated”.
In a press release, the group said community members have “reclaimed” the site in honour of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl found dead in February after going missing while trying to flee Gaza City with relatives.
Her final pleas for someone to help her before coming under Israeli fire – heard on a phone recording – reverberated around the world.
Copyright: Getty Images
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
