3 hours ago
3
ARTICLE AD BOX
Lastly, the letter addressed the outstanding case of Professor Shai Davidai, a high-profile Jewish civil rights activist whom the university has allegedly persecuted, and demanded the reinstatement of his campus access.
By Dion J. Pierre, The Algemeiner
Nearly 200 Columbia University faculty have signed an open letter urging administrative officials to at last enact policies which address the scourge of antisemitism and disruption on the campus, an issue that remains unresolved despite its continuing to keep the school locked in a state of crisis.
“In response to civil rights violations and calls for violence being made against Jews on Columbia’s property, we cannot stress enough the need to implement measures of safety immediately. Toward this end, we’ve provided you with the list below of our recommendations” said the letter, addressed to interim university president Katrina Armstrong and shared with the public on Monday.
“We truly appreciate your statement that ‘we have to do what’s best for our students,’ as well as the recent suspension and barring of those involved in disrupting a Jewish studies class. Unfortunately, the systemic antisemitism and anti-Western indoctrination at Columbia University continue.”
The letter went on to enumerate 10 policies the university can implement right now to correct the campus climate, including adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which is widely used by governments and private entities around the world, banning the wearing of face masks which conceal the identities of those who commit violence and destroy school property, and expelling students who, for the purpose of furthering an extremist political agenda, occupy buildings and invade classrooms.
Joseph Massad — an anti-Zionist professor who in 2023 cheered the Hamas-led terrorists who murdered young people attending the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7 in southern Israel as “the air force of the Palestinian resistance” — also emerged as a key area of concern of the letter, as he remains permitted to teach the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his courses.
At least one professor has resigned in protest of Massad’s good standing with the administration. In doing so, he denounced Massad’s presence on campus as “a complete abandonment of academic integrity and unbiased scholarship.”
“Immediately relieve Joseph Massad of his teaching responsibilities with Columbia students,” the letter continued.
“Investigate Massad’s actions to determine if he violated Title VI, and, if substantiated, immediately dismiss him from Columbia University. Remove from positions of leadership and curriculum all Columbia faculty who have violated university policies, including regarding antisemitism, such as professors who have participated in the encampment or who called for violence. Hold accountable faculty who publicly supported calls for violence, including in ways that violate Title VI.”
Lastly, the letter addressed the outstanding case of Professor Shai Davidai, a high-profile Jewish civil rights activist whom the university has allegedly persecuted by investigating him over spurious accusations and suspending his access to campus for emotively criticizing the coddling of primarily left-wing students who endorse terrorism, anti-Jewish violence, and the dissolution of Western civilization.
“Reinstate Professor Shai Davidai’s access to campus,” it said.
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, Columbia University remains one of the most hostile campuses for Jews employed by or enrolled in an institution of higher education.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, it has produced several examples of campus antisemitism, including a student who proclaimed that Zionist Jews deserve to be murdered and are lucky he is not doing so himself, brutal gang-assaults on Jewish students, and administrative officials who, outraged at the notion that Jews organized to resist anti-Zionism, participated in a group chat in which each member took turns sharing antisemitic tropes that described Jews as privileged and grafting.
Amid these incidents, the university has struggled to discipline members of the anti-Zionist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which just this month committed an act of infrastructural sabotage by flooding the toilets of the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) with concrete.
Numerous reports indicate the attack may be the premeditated result of planning sessions which took place many months ago at an event held by Alpha Delta Phi (ADP) — a literary society, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
During the event, the Free Beacon reported, ADP distributed literature dedicated to “aspiring revolutionaries” who wish to commit seditious acts. Additionally, a presentation was given in which complete instructions for the exact kind of attack which struck Columbia were shared with students.
That was not CUAD’s only alleged violation of school rules as well as the penal law of New York State.
In April, its members commandeered a section of campus and, after declaring it a “liberated zone,” lit flares and chanted pro-Hamas and anti-American slogans, according to reports.
When the New York City Police Department (NYPD) arrived to disperse the unauthorized gathering, hundreds of students reportedly amassed around them to prevent the restoration of order.
“Yes, we’re all Hamas, pig!” one protester was filmed screaming during the fracas, which saw some verbal skirmishes between pro-Zionist and anti-Zionist partisans.
“Long live Hamas!” said others who filmed themselves dancing and praising the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization. “Kill another soldier!” they also shouted.
In September, during the university’s convocation ceremony, CUAD distributed literature calling on students to join the Palestinian terrorist group’s movement to destroy Israel.
“This booklet is part of a coordinated and intentional effort to uphold the principles of the thawabit and the Palestinian resistance movement overall by transmitting the words of the resistance directly,” said a pamphlet distributed by CUAD, a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) spinoff, to incoming freshmen.
“This material aims to build popular support for the Palestinian war of national liberation, a war which is waged through armed struggle.”
Other sections of the pamphlet were explicitly Islamist, invoking the name of “Allah, the most gracious” and referring to Hamas as the “Islamic Resistance Movement.” Proclaiming, “Glory to Gaza that gave hope to the oppressed, that humiliated the ‘invincible’ Zionist army,” it said its purpose was to build an army of Muslims worldwide.
After almost two years of being accused of cravenly ignoring unlawful and discriminatory behavior, Columbia University has recently made steps towards holding lawbreakers accountable.
Earlier this month, it banned from its campus multiple, and suspended another, masked individuals who disrupted an active class last monh and proceeded to utter pro-Hamas statements while distributing antisemitic literature.
The agitators had stormed into Professor Avi Shilon’s course, titled “History of Modern Israel,” on the first day of classes of the new semester last Tuesday.
Clad in keffiyehs, which were wrapped on their faces to conceal their identities, they read prepared remarks which described the course as “Zionist and imperialist” and a “normalization of genocide.”
As part of their performance, which they appeared to film, they dropped flyers, one of which contained an illustration of a lifted boot preparing to trample a Star of David. Next to the drawing was a message that said, “Crush Zionism.”
Citing these incidents and more, Monday’s letter called on the university to adopt its recommendations “without delay.”
English (US) ·