The Encampments

by Mike McGranaghan

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. That theory is particularly true when it comes to activism. Protests are designed to make people in power feel uncomfortable. And when people in power are uncomfortable, they do whatever it takes to change that. Nowhere has this been more evident recently than in the situation at Columbia University. The documentary The Encampments takes a probing look at how the school reacted when a sizable percentage of its students took a stand.

A group of Palestinian students asked Columbia to divest itself from investments in weapons companies – the kind making the weapons being used against their people by Israel in the wake of the horrific October 7 Hamas attack. Directors Kei Pritsker and Michael T. Workman have cameras there for what happened next. Students who are pro-Palestine set up an encampment in a quad area, refusing to leave until their demands are met. When Columbia tries to quash the movement, the young activists up the stakes, inspiring a movement on campuses nationwide.

Several of those young activists are interviewed about the protest, including Mahmoud Khalil, who served as the negotiator between the students and Columbia officials. If you follow the news, you may already know that he was eventually detained by ICE and remains in federal custody. That comes after police arrived with rubber bullets and flash grenades to drive out the gathering.

The Encampments hits on a very big irony, which is that Columbia prides itself on consistently turning out the next generation of leaders yet attempts to put down the students doing the very thing they’ve been educated to do. The pro-Palestinian activists we see preach a message of peace and acceptance for all people. Rather than considering their arguments at that level, the university instantly attempts to paint them as antisemitic, shakily equating a desire to end the obliteration of Gaza with condoning the actions of Hamas.

The Israel/Palestine conflict is far too complex and nuanced to be summarized in one 80-minute documentary (or one review of said documentary). Strong emotions are stirred up by the topic, on both sides, for legitimate reasons. Whatever your view, it is perhaps possible to understand how neither country would want to see its people wiped out. Watching Columbia intentionally villainize a segment of its own population raises a valid question: Is unleashing the police on a peaceful student-led protest really the best way to respond? The activists allege the school is responding to pressure from big-money, pro-Israel donors. If true, it means that the university’s values are driven by cash rather than principal, and that’s a direct conflict of what gets taught in the classrooms.

This is the thing The Encampments does so well. Watching the movie, you’re encouraged to reflect on both the need for and the response to student protest. Pritsker and Workman also show clear admiration for the activists, who refuse to bend, even when their own school threatens them with expulsion. The very existence of this film may rankle some people, but it’s a timely and important piece of reporting, and if it causes discomfort in certain quarters…well, isn’t that the point?

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