A group of US billionaires and business titans working to shape public opinion of the war in Gaza privately pressed New York City’s (NYC) Mayor Eric Adams last month to send police to disperse pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, according to communications obtained by The Washington Post and people familiar with the group.
The WhatsApp chat cited by the Washington Post included prominent businessmen such as former CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz, Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and Joshua Kushner, brother of former President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser on Middle East issues, Jared Kushner.
Business executives including Kind snack company founder Daniel Lubetzky, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, billionaire Len Blavatnik and real estate investor Joseph Sitt held a Zoom video call on 26 April with NYC Mayor Eric Adams, about a week after the mayor first sent New York police to Columbia’s campus, a log of chat messages shows.
During the call, some attendees discussed making political donations to Adams, as well as how the chat group’s members could pressure Columbia’s president and trustees to permit the mayor to send police to the campus to handle protesters, according to chat messages summarising the conversation.
Protests, including rallies, demonstrations, campaigns, and vigils, relating to the Israel–Hamas war have occurred nationwide across the United States since the conflict's start on 7 October 2023, occurring as part of a broader phenomenon of the Israel–Hamas war protests around the world.
In the first ten days of the war, pro-Israeli demonstrations in support of Israel in the wake of the Hamas-led attack and focusing on the Israeli hostage crisis were most common, but they have since been outnumbered by pro-Palestinian anti-war protests demanding a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli occupation.
Pro-Palestinian protestors criticised US military and diplomatic support to Israel and Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip and its war conduct, which some called a genocide. These protests included Jewish groups and some US administration staffers.
By December 5, more than 1 million Americans had participated in protest over the conflict, across over 2,600 events: 442 in support of Israel, and 2,100 in support of Palestine.
An escalation of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses began on 17 April, 2024.
![More than 1,000 students, faculty members and other participants walked out of Harvard’s commencement ceremony last month in protest over the decision to bar 13 students from receiving their degrees [Mark Stockwell/EPA]](https://images.bfirst.news/smartcrop?width=1600&height=900&format=webp&quality=85&path=mediaImages/2024-Jun-10_66670e401e16b_1718029888.jpg)
