Ilhan Omar's Daughter Suspended From Barnard Over Pro-Palestinian Protest

The daughter of Representative Ilhan Omar was suspended from Barnard College on Thursday over her participation in pro-Palestinian protests on the campus of neighboring Columbia University.

Isra Hirsi, a junior at Barnard in New York City, said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she "received notice that I am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide."

Hirsi has been a vocal pro-Palestinian voice during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which has killed some 30,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. The war began after Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7 of last year, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking another 250 hostage.

The dean of Barnard, Leslie Grinage, reportedly notified Hirsi and the two other students of their suspension in an email on Thursday morning.

"This decision is based on information received from Columbia University Public Safety that you have been involved in an unauthorized encampment on the Columbia University campus and you have not ceased participation in this unauthorized encampment despite repeated requests from Barnard and Columbia on April 17, 2024 that you do so," the email read, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The Spectator identified the other two suspended students as Maryam Iqbal and Soph Askanase, also of Barnard.

Barnard is both an independent college and an official part of Columbia.

Hirsi was participating in a large encampment protest on Columbia's South Lawn that sprung up early Wednesday morning, hours before Columbia President Dr. Minouche Shafik was set to testify at a Congressional hearing on antisemitism. The demonstrators said they would not leave the lawn until the university divested from any companies with ties to Israel.

On Thursday afternoon, the New York Police Department (NYPD) began clearing the encampment and arresting students who had ignored the university's demands to disperse, according to videos posted on social media. Several New York City Department of Corrections buses could be seen parked along Broadway, outside Columbia's main entrance in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.

"[T]hose of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated. we will stand resolute until our demands are met," Hirsi wrote on X following the announcement of her suspension.

Hirsi and the other students told the Spectator that they were expecting to be suspended after Grinage notified them of a pending disciplinary action if they did not leave the lawn.

In a letter addressed to the Barnard community and provided to Newsweek, the college said that students participating in the protest were warned on Wednesday evening that they needed to disperse.

"These written warnings stated that students would receive interim suspensions if they did not leave the encampment by 9 p.m. on April 17," the statement read.

"This morning, April 18, we started to place identified Barnard students remaining in the encampment on interim suspension, and we will continue to do so."

Hirsi is one of three children Representative Omar shares with her ex-husband. Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who is part of the informal group of progressive Congressional legislators known as "The Squad," posted in support of the encampment on Wednesday, writing on X: "As NYPD surrounds young activists, I hope their concerns are heard by school administrators and they not be criminalized."

Newsweek has reached out to Hirsi for further comment.

Update 04/18/24 3:30 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information.