Behind the Barricades at Columbia University: “The Encampments” for Gaza | Meet the BIPOC Press

“The Encampments”, co-produced by ‪@Macklemore‬ brings viewers into the anti-Gaza War protests at Columbia University and gets up close and personal with leaders including Mahmoud Khalil, the student negotiator currently detained by ICE in violation of a court’s order. In this special episode in our series Meet the BIPOC Press, Laura sits down with Sueda Polat and Grant Miner, two of Khalil’s colleagues in the encampments, who were suspended and expelled, respectively, as well as the film’s co-director, journalist Kei Pritsker of ‪@BreakThroughNews‬ to discuss how the film came to be, and where the situation stands today as well as what’s missing and who is misrepresented in commercial news. All that, plus a commentary from Laura on Columbia University’s move to suspend four college journalists for “being too close to the action.”

“I don't really participate as a Jewish person, I participate as an activist and a person of conscience that is Jewish . . . There's a very insidious narrative that was basically, ‘If you're not Jewish and you're not Palestinian, then talking about this is strange. Having an opinion on this conflict is strange and you should just stop talking about it because you're probably only motivated by antisemitism.’ I want to push back and say that anybody can have an opinion on this. It's the world's first livestreamed genocide.” - Grant Miner

“There is not, I think, one moment of regret. Yeah, not a moment of regret in our bodies, in our hearts. Especially knowing that the increased scale of repression, both at the federal level and at the institutional level at Columbia University, is happening because we were so successful at mobilizing such a large mass of people, perhaps for the first time in a very long time in America.” - Sueda Polat

“The media has shown, time and time again, that they are completely incapable of telling the story of Palestine honestly . . . We put this film out to highlight the difference between these people who take paychecks from people who are complicit in genocide, and people who have no allegiance to money or corporations or military industrial messaging” - Kei Pritsker

GUESTS:
Grant Miner: Columbia University Student Activist, The Encampments; President, SWC-UAW 2710
Sueda Polat: Columbia University Student Activist, The Encampments; Graduate Student, Human Rights
Kei Pritsker: Co-Director, The Encampments, Journalist, BreakThrough News

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CREDITS:
Executive Producer: Laura Flanders
Supervising Producer: Sabrina Artel
Senior Producer: Jeremiah Cothren
Senior Consulting Producer: Rory O’Connor
Senior Video Editor: David Neumann
Video Editor: Veronica Delgado
Audio Director: Jeannie Hopper
Development Director: Sarah Miller
Communications Director: Janet Hernandez

Thumbnail photo courtesy of The Encampments/‪@watermelonpicturesco‬.