Minouche Shafik, President of the American University of Columbia, in turmoil – Libération

Calls for the resignation of the president of the prestigious New York University have multiplied since her establishment became the epicenter of the student movement in support of Palestine.

Minouche Shafik has spent more than three decades working in major international institutions, trying to solve major crises that have shaken the world. The 61-year-old president of the prestigious American Columbia University is certainly going through the worst zone of turbulence in her career. The influential Egyptian-British-American economist is under increasing criticism as her private establishment, one of the most selective in the world, is the epicenter of the pro-Palestinian movement rocking American campuses.

Since April 17, colorful tents have blossomed on the impeccably manicured lawns of Columbia, northwest of New York’s Manhattan Island. The students are peacefully protesting Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has cost tens of thousands of civilians, and are demanding the university’s leadership cut ties with companies linked to Israel. “Colombia complicit in genocide”we hear especially in processions.

More than 100 students arrested at the university

The scale of the movement took on a new dimension when Minouche Shafik authorized the police, against the advice of the Student Senate, to enter the university and make arrests. Presidency