Columbia University has reportedly barred an Israel-born, Jewish professor from entering the Ivy League’s main campus, where pro-Hamas students have taken over, the New York Post reported.
Shai Davidai, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School, has been an outspoken supporter of Israel and called for “a PEACEFUL sit in at Columbia’s declared ‘Liberation Zone’” on Monday morning amid the ongoing protests at the New York university.
Anti-Israel students set up an encampment on the lawn at the center of campus, where they have erected Palestinian flags and draped their tents with protest signs. According to the New York Times, the area is being referred to by some as the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”
When Davidai arrived on campus Monday morning to hold the scheduled peaceful counterprotest, he discovered that his school identification card had been deactivated.
In a video posted to social media, Davidai shouted to fellow pro-Israel students, “I have not just a civil right, a civil right as a Jewish person to be on campus, I have a right as a professor employed by the university to be on campus.”
“They deactivated my card,” he added. “They are not letting me on main campus.”
Davidai pointed out the “irony” that his card still grants him access to Columbia’s Manhattanville campus, where he teaches.
“I was just told by [administrators] that I am [to be] let on the campus of the business school where I’m teaching tomorrow,” the Post reported. “So they are willing to use Jewish brains, but they don’t want to let Jewish people in.”
In a post on X, Davidai explained that Columbia claimed it deactivated his card because it could not ensure his safety on the main campus, given the ongoing protests.
He slammed the university for continuing to protect the pro-Hamas protesters whom it has allowed to take over the campus.
“We know whose safety they can ensure — for the past five days, they’ve been ensuring the safety of the students who are calling on Hamas, to target Jewish students. That’s the safety that they are ensuring,” Davidai said.
He urged Jewish and pro-Israel students to be cautious around the protesters and called on them to take videos of the encampment.
“If they don’t let you in, and then document the fact that they’re not letting other Jewish people into campus,” he stated.
Columbia President Minouche Shafik testified before the House earlier this week. She told lawmakers that there have been several complaints about Davidai and that the university has launched an investigation into the professor.
Davidai has called for Shafik’s firing, as well as “everyone in the antisemitism task force at Columbia to resign right now.”
Last week, pro-Palestinian students took over campus and refused to leave until the university met a list of demands, which included removing funding from companies with ties to Israel, the Times reported.
Shafik called the police to remove the protesters; more than 100 arrests were made.
On Monday, the university announced that it would cancel in-person classes and switch to remote learning due to the unrest.
“I am deeply saddened by what is happening on our campus. Our bonds as a community have been severely tested in ways that will take a great deal of time and effort to reaffirm. Students across an array of communities have conveyed fears for their safety and we have announced additional actions we are taking to address security concerns,” Shafik wrote in a Monday statement.
She claimed that the school needs “a reset” due to increased tensions that “have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas.”
“To deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps, I am announcing that all classes will be held virtually on Monday. Faculty and staff who can work remotely should do so,” she added. “Our preference is that students who do not live on campus will not come to campus.”
“I know that there is much debate about whether or not we should use the police on campus, and I am happy to engage in those discussions,” Shafik continued. “Over the past days, there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus. Antisemitic language, like any other language that is used to hurt and frighten people, is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken. We urge those affected to report these incidents through university channels.”
Additional encampments sprouted up at Yale, the University of Michigan, and MIT to support the protesters arrested at Columbia.
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