JEWISH LEADERS ACCUSE COLUMBIA OF COWARDICE FOR NOT EVICTING ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS
Jewish Leaders Accuse Columbia of Cowardice for Not Evicting anti-Israel Protesters
Yet another deadline for clearing unauthorized encampment passed Friday morning without administration taking action
April 27th, 01AM April 27th, 01AMJewish organizational leaders on Friday accused Columbia University and other institutions of higher education of cowardice for not disciplining anti-Israel protesters who have been flouting their rules of conduct on campus, thereby jeopardizing the safety of Jewish students.
At a press conference at the Columbia/Barnard Hillel, they urged university administrators to suspend, expel and even arrest those students at the Morningside Heights campus, as well as dozens of other campuses across the country, who have refused to dismantle their unauthorized "Gaza Solidarity" encampments and continue intimidating Jewish students.
The press conference was held hours after yet another deadline set by Columbia's administration for clearing the lawn outside the main library passed without any action taken against the hundreds of students camped out there for more than a week.
"Rules, including codes of conduct, are there to keep students, and faculty, and staff safe," said Ted Deutsch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee. "And when they're enforced, students and campus life can flourish – that's all we're asking for. When they're abandoned, as we've seen in far too many cases recently, the entire system breaks down. "
Adam Lehman, president and CEO of Hillel International, said his organization had already documented nearly 1,400 instances of campus antisemitism since October 7, "and they are growing at a rapid rate."
"Universities have got to step up and enforce their policies," he said. "This is not complicated. Do your job. You are there to actually prevent the anarchy and chaos we are seeing on far too many campuses. That may require expulsions, that may require suspensions, that may require bringing in law enforcement, but one way or another, we have to be able to depend on institutions of higher education to take back control of their campuses."
A delegation of students from Columbia and several other schools shared their personal experiences confronting antisemitism on their respective campuses.
"I cannot walk around my campus looking visibly Jewish without preparing myself for the possibility that someone might spit on me and attack me," said Noa Fay, a student at Barnard College, the sister school of Columbia.
She called on the administration to "arrest the students on Butler lawn and discipline those that continue to call for the death of my friends and family."
"Deal with these antisemites," she demanded.
Fay noted that a leader of the Columbia student encampment had recently said that "Zionists don't deserve to live." She was referring to Khymani James, an official spokesperson for the campus protest movement, who made the remarks in a video that surfaced on Thursday and has circulated widely. He later tried to walk back on his remarks, saying that "I misspoke in the heat of the moment."
Jillian Lederman, a senior from Brown, said that the past six months have entailed "daily intimidation, harassment, and isolation for Jewish college students."
"All of us have had to choose between disavowing Zionism – a core aspect of Jewish identity for so many of us – or facing backlash and exclusion from many of our peers," she added. "This has become our new normal."
Brian Cohen, the director of the Columbia/Barnard Hillel, said it was unacceptable that students who had been suspended a week ago for participating in another unauthorized encampment were back on campus in the new encampment, while faculty were holding classes in the space and dismissing students early so that they could join the protesters.
"It's not my standard practice to be public about what's happening on campus, but I tried working with the university for months behind the scenes, and they have consistently failed to address the crisis on campus," said Cohen, who has been in charge of the Columbia Hillel chapter for more than 12 years.
"The situation we are seeing on our campus and dozens of other campuses around the country stems from decades of decisions by administrators that have slowly eroded campus climate."
He added: "There is one clear step we are calling on administrators to take today: Uphold your codes of conduct, enforce your rules and hold students who violate them accountable in real and consequential ways."
When asked for her view on Jewish students who joined the anti-Israel encampment, Fay said: "They are a minority group that is not representative of us. Take them as seriously as you would take 'Blacks for Trump' or 'Gays for Trump.' They have been tokenized."
The Columbia administration did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the accusations made by participants at the press conference.
Earlier in the day, the Hostage Family Forum held a large demonstration outside the gates of Columbia University as a sign of solidarity with Jewish students attending the Ivy League school.
Dana Cwaigrach, a leader of the forum and a student at Columbia, told the gathering: "My dream was to study at Columbia, to engage in discussions and debates on complex issues. It's possible to debate the war and its costs. It's not possible to ignore and deny what happened to us on October 7 and the fact that there are still 133 hostages in Gaza."
Among the representatives of the hostage families present at the event was Liat Unger, a Columbia graduate and cousin of hostage Omer Shem-Tov.
"I am deeply pained by the widespread disregard for the hostages," she said. "Omer, who is the age of the students here, was kidnapped from a party. It could have been any one of you."
In a letter sent Friday, Dani Dayan, the chairman of Yad Vashem, urged Columbia University President Minouche Shafik to be a leader rather than an administrator.
"When thousands of Columbia faculty, staff and students call for the elimination of the State of Israel and the abolition of Zionism, you must take a stand," he wrote. "Not a political stand. A moral stand. When it becomes crystal clear that abolishing the existence of the Jewish state is a prevalent ideology in Columbia – the president of the institution cannot remain silent."
2024-04-26T23:02:41Z dg43tfdfdgfd