The banner that protesters unfurled at Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall late Monday night read “Hind’s Hall,” a tribute to Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Even in a war of staggering loss, Hind’s story stood out. She was found dead in a car in Gaza City, surrounded by the bodies of six family members.
According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, Hind’s relatives had been killed by Israeli fire, and she had made contact with emergency workers by phone as she sat trapped in a car with them. After hours spent trying to console her, the aid group said, two ambulance workers were sent on a frantic effort to find and rescue her.
Then, they vanished from contact.
Nearly two weeks later, in February, the two emergency workers were found dead, their ambulance a twisted pile of metal. Close by was the car carrying the bodies of Hind and her relatives. It was Hind’s family members who made the discovery, the Red Crescent said.
It remains unclear how Hind died. The Red Crescent accused Israeli forces of attacking the ambulance even though its movements had been coordinated with them.
The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces “were not present near the vehicle or within the firing range of the described vehicle in which the girl was found.” It also disputed the aid group’s account of what happened to the ambulance, saying that coordination with its forces would not have been necessary because Israeli troops weren’t in the area.
It’s not the first time that Hamilton Hall has been reclaimed and renamed by student protesters. In 1985, students calling for Columbia’s divestment in apartheid South Africa renamed the building “Mandela Hall.”
Myra Noveck contributed reporting.
