Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi, has been left homeless and hungry after being suspended from Columbia University for participating in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
Hirsi and two of her classmates from Barnard College at Columbia were the first of nearly 100 students to be suspended over the pro-Palestine protests. According to Hirsi, the university locked her out of her on-campus housing, leaving her with nowhere to go and no access to her belongings or food.
“I was a little bit frantic, like, where am I going to sleep? Where am I gonna go? And also all of my s*** is thrown in a random lot. It’s pretty horrible,” Hirsi told Teen Vogue.
Members of “The Squad,” a group of progressive Democrats including Rep. Omar, have criticized Columbia’s treatment of the suspended students. They argue that the university is suppressing free speech and retaliating against students for expressing their views on the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Hirsi urges people to pay less attention to news about protesters and more attention to what is happening in Gaza. She emphasizes that the encampment was meant to shed light on the university’s complicity in the conflict and to focus back on the people suffering in Gaza.
