LIVELaura Flanders & Friends - Behind the Barricades at Columbia University: 'The Encampments' for Gaza
With sold-out debut screenings in New York, the timely new documentary "The Encampments" brings viewers into the Columbia University encampments and captures the spirit of the student protests -- without the media spin we see so often in commercial reporting. Presented by Watermelon Pictures and BreakThrough News, the film has ignited conversations about Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza, the nationwide crackdown on student dissent, and the media's failures in this moment. Among the voices featured in the film are Mahmoud Khalil, a student negotiator who was illegally arrested and is currently detained by ICE and now faces deportation. In this special episode of the series we call Meet the BIPOC Press, Laura sits down with Sueda Polat and Grant Miner, two of Khalil's colleagues in the encampments, both of whom were suspended and expelled, respectively, as well as the film's co-director, journalist Kei Pritsker, to discuss how the film came to be, and where the situation stands today. All that, plus a commentary from Laura on Columbia University's move to suspend four college journalists "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 PritskerGuests: 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
Series Website: https://www.lauraflanders.org
Recent and Upcoming Airings
11.25/25 10:30 am 11.36/1 6:00 am