1,200 seats with images of Oct. 7 victims set up at Columbia University

Columbia University hosts a memorial to the victims of the October 7, 2023, massacre featuring 1,200 seats with images of the victims of the onslaught.

The mile-long memorial is setup by pro-Israel nonprofits DiploAct and Let’s Do Something.

Columbia has seen frequent anti-Israel and in some cases antisemitic protests since October 7. An anti-Israel student encampment on the campus in 2024 sparked a nationwide movement and ended with police storming a building that had been forcibly taken over by protesters.

Columbia University is hosting a mile-long memorial featuring 1,200 empty chairs across it's campus in Manhattan, representing each life lost in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. The nonprofit DiploAct and Let's Do Something are behind the memorial. pic.twitter.com/nl0VOdchSa

— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) October 6, 2025