By Gwyneth Campbell

I graduated from Columbia University, in New York’s Morningside Heights, at the beginning of this year. I’ve been expecting to wear the oft-Instagrammed blue robes in less than two weeks — not considering the alternate reality I was about to see unfold before my eyes. Nor did I think that I would ever see hundreds of New York Police Department officers flood into the campus in riot gear, forcibly putting an end to the demonstrations.

Because I live off-campus, I had been following the pro-Palestinian student protests that began on April 17 through the news and a few visits on campus. I watched as tensions escalated, but I never thought that they would reach the point that they have. On Tuesday, April 30, I sat on the floor of my home and watched the CBS News YouTube live stream, aghast, as policemen filed one-by-one into a Hamilton Hall window. They had been sent by Columbia’s administration to extricate students who barricaded the building. Outside, a crowd yelled, “Shame!” The scene looked like a sci-fi show.

This article is not an argument against peaceful protests. There are already more than enough op-eds to start a conversation. Nor am I here to defend the Israeli cause. I am of multi-ethnic descent; I am neither a Jew nor an Arab or Muslim. I do not have religious or blood ties to represent either side. But I am a native New Yorker and a Columbia student, and I feel sadness at what has happened to our beautiful global community. I would like to ask a simple but difficult question: How did we get here? How did we get to April 30?

After Israel–Hamas war broke out on October 7, 2023, I spent half a week scrolling through the news. I was not the only person on campus........

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