Ilhan Omar Joins Daughter For Pro-Palestine Protest At Columbia University Despite 21-Year-Old Being Banned From School
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar tagged along as her daughter, Isra Hirsi, returned to Columbia University this week to protest Israel’s actions in Palestine, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Hirsi, a junior majoring in sociology at Columbia’s sister school, Barnard, has been suspended over her involvement in the ongoing demonstrations. She was evicted from the dormitories and banned from campus after she and other activists set up dozens of tents on school grounds, demanding peace in Gaza.
Despite being banned, Hirsi returned to Columbia on Thursday with her famously progressive mother in tow as both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine crowds descended on the campus.
Rep. Omar posted a short video of the event on X and wrote in the caption that she was “in awe” of the students’ “bravery and courage.”
“I had the honor of seeing the Columbia University anti-war encampment firsthand,” the U.S. representative for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District said in the post.
“Contrary to right-wing attacks, these students are joyfully protesting for peace and an end to the genocide taking place in Gaza,” Omar continued.
The New York Times reported that tensions between administrators and activist students have escalated at the Ivy League school amid ongoing negotiations over the encampment. Dozens of students have been arrested after refusing to move, despite the university threatening suspension.
Hirsi, 21, announced on April 18 via X that she was “1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.”
“I have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings,” she wrote.
Hirsi also said in the post that she was an organizer with a student coalition called Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which has called for the school to cut its financial ties with pro-Israel companies.
The coalition gathered a crowd at CU’s gates on Tuesday and chanted, “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
The demonstrations began on Wednesday of the previous week as the university’s president Nemat Shafik testified at a congressional hearing about antisemitism at the school.
Omar questioned Shafik about the suspensions and evictions of students for their participation in the events, and the president said the school had to take these measures because students were refusing to cooperate.
Administrators sought help from the New York Police Department after students occupied part of the university’s South Lawn for 30 hours last Thursday, according to NBC.
Mayor Eric Adams said after more than 100 people were arrested that while “Columbia University’s students have a proud history of protests and raising their voices,” they did not have the right to disobey school policies.
“We will not be a city of lawlessness,” Adams said.
