A retired elementary school teacher, Nahla Al-Arian says she did go to Columbia — but not to teach anyone about civil disobedience./ Photo: AA
But the woman referenced by the mayor wasn't on Columbia's campus this week, isn't among the protesters who were arrested and has not been accused of any crime. “The whole thing is a distraction because they are very scared that the young Americans are aware for the first time of what’s going on in Palestine,” Nahla Al-Arian said. “They are the ones who influenced me. They are the ones who gave me hope that at last the Palestinian people can get some justice.”
It was a photo of her kneeling alone beside a tent, taken by her daughter and shared on X by her husband, that quickly stoked allegations of a terrorism link to the protest.But the claim spread widely, fueling a narrative — vehemently disputed by student organisers — that Columbia’s pro-Palestinian movement has been co-opted by external forces.
In a statement, the group behind the encampment, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, defended its right “to include people from outside the Ivy League or the ivory tower in this global movement.”