Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter said she was suspended Thursday by Barnard College after refusing to leave an encampment set up on campus in support of Gaza.
Isra Hirsi, 21, said she received notice that she and at least two other students were suspended for “standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide,” Hirsi wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Hirsi, an organizer with a student group that advocates for Palestine, said this was her first time being punished as a student activist in her three years at the New York City school.
“Those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated,” she wrote.
Barnard said it temporarily suspended some Columbia and Barnard students who refused multiple written and verbal requests to leave an unauthorized encampment on Columbia’s South Lawn on Thursday morning.
There are more than 100 people occupying the area, Columbia University’s president, Minouche Shafik, said in a memo to police.
Barnard did not say how many students were suspended or confirm that Hirsi was among them. It did not say how long the suspension would last but said it would continue to suspend students who stay.
“Now and always, we prioritize our students’ learning and living in an inclusive environment free from harassment,” the school said in a memo about the suspensions.
Hirsi could not be immediately reached.
Omar did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Democrat, who represents Minnesota, is a Somali refugee who made history as one of the first two Muslim American women elected to Congress.
On Wednesday, Omar questioned Shafik about protests on campus during a Congressional hearing in which Shafik strongly denounced antisemitism.
In a statement Thursday, Shafik said she authorized police to clear the encampment “out of an abundance of concern” for safety on campus.
The New York Police Department said it has so far arrested three people at the encampment who are 26-years-old, 30-years-old, and 35-years-old.
