Gaza solidarity encampments are spreading beyond Columbia

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Support our nonprofit journalism]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     April 22, 2024 Happy Earth Day, Mother Jones readers. I hope you celebrate today by getting outside for some fresh air and sunshine...because it's about to be a wild week. As my colleague Abby Vesoulis [reports](, the Supreme Court has a busy week, hearing oral arguments in cases on [homelessness](, [emergency abortions](, and Donald Trump's immunity (or lack thereof). And speaking of Trump...the first witness in his criminal trial took the stand in a New York City courtroom today, as my colleague Inae Oh [reports](: David Pecker, the former president and CEO of American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, admitted the publication "paid for stories" to prevent them from appearing in other publications. And as my colleague David Corn [explained]( last week, that admission is central to the Trump criminal trial currently unfolding: Pecker and the magazine’s editor [conspired with]( Trump to prevent Daniels from going public with her allegation right before Election Day in 2016. That resulted in the $130,000 hush-money payoff to her. And that payment was falsely recorded on the Trump Organization books as a legal expense—which is the basis of the criminal case against Trump. The specific question at hand is whether this phony bookkeeping was done to cover up what might have been an illegal campaign expenditure concocted by Trump and his fixer Michael Cohen to influence the election. Meanwhile, as I [just reported](, Gaza solidarity encampments have spread far beyond Columbia University, where more than 100 students—including [some from Barnard](, the all-women’s college located across the street from Columbia’s campus, which has a partnership with the university—were [arrested]( last week after [occupying]( the upper Manhattan campus. Many of the protests—at Yale, NYU, Emerson College, and the University of Michigan, among others—have sprung up the past few days, after the groups National Students for Justice in Palestine and Palestinian Youth Movement [put out a call]( this weekend “to take back the university and force the administration to divest, for the people of Gaza.” I put together what I believe is the first comprehensive running list of Gaza solidarity encampments at college campuses nationwide, as well as what protesters are demanding—largely, for the universities to divest from companies that fund corporations closely connected to Israel’s military operations and for administrators to allow pro-Palestinian protesters to demonstrate without threats of disciplinary action. We'll continue updating the list—so if you know of another campus that should be on it, [let me know here](. —Julianne McShane P.S. Did you catch this weekend's episode of Reveal, made in partnership with Mother Jones reporter [Samantha Michaels](? It's about Samantha's [investigation]( into how a tribal police department vanished into thin air after chasing a 17-year-old boy, Braven Glenn, to his death, as my colleague Jamilah King [writes](. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts. (And after you listen, make sure to read Samantha's piece and watch filmmaker Mark Helenowski's [video ingestigation]( of the tragedy, too.) Advertisement [Earthjustice]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Gaza Solidarity Encampments Are Spreading Far Beyond Columbia’s Campus]( Large-scale protests have erupted, with students demanding universities divest from companies linked to Israel's war. BY JULIANNE MCSHANE SPONSORED CONTENT BY EARTHJUSTICE   Earth Day Match! Donate to Earthjustice today. Earth Day is a time to reflect on our planet and the future we are creating together. 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