Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), was suspended from Barnard College this week over her participation in a pro-Palestinian protest.
Hirsi, a junior at Barnard, the women’s college connected to Columbia University, is an organizer with Apartheid Divest, a student coalition that has been pressing the university to cut ties with companies that support Israel. The group had set up an encampment at the university.
Hirsi said she was one of three students who were suspended.
“I have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday. “I just received notice that I am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.”
It is not clear how long Hirsi’s suspension will be.
A Columbia spokesperson told HuffPost that students who participated in the “unauthorized encampment” were suspended.
“We are continuing to identify them and will be sending out formal notifications,” the spokesperson added.
Barnard said it does not comment on confidential student proceedings but directed HuffPost to a statement the school published Thursday.
“A number of Barnard Senior Staff also went to the lawn to ask Barnard students participating in the encampment to leave and to advise Barnard students that they would be subject to sanctions at Barnard if they did not leave the encampment,” read the statement.
The news comes one day after the university’s president, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, testified before Congress about student activism surrounding the Israel-Hamas war and the rise of antisemitism on campus. Omar was among the lawmakers who questioned Shafik and specifically asked about the safety of Palestinian and Muslim students on campus.
Omar’s office did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
In a letter sent to the deputy commissioner of the New York City Police Department on Thursday, Shafik said she’d authorized police to clear the encampment and remove more than 100 protesters.
“I have determined that the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University,” she wrote. “With great regret, we request the NYPD’s help to remove these individuals.”