Columbia University: Anti-Israel activists protest, disrupt a class

Hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrators rallied outside Columbia University in New York City on Tuesday, at the start of the spring semester.

According to the Times of Israel, the protesters gathered on Broadway, near a Columbia entrance in Manhattan's Morningside Heights. They chanted slogans like “We will honor all our martyrs,” “Smash the settler Zionist state,” and “Intifada people’s war” to the beat of a snare drum.

On campus, the report said, a smaller group of activists chanted “Long live the intifada” near Butler Library before marching off campus to join the larger rally.

“Columbia, you will see, we resist till victory,” chanted protesters, many with faces covered in medical masks or keffiyehs. Meanwhile, a few pro-Israel counterprotesters waved Israeli flags and chanted, “The people of Israel live” in Hebrew.

The demonstration was organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition led by Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace.

In another protest, activists disrupted a class on the history of modern Israel, taught by Israeli professor Avi Shilon. According to student Elisha Baker, three demonstrators entered the classroom, distributed anti-Israel flyers, and accused the class of promoting “genocidal propaganda for the apartheid state.”

Columbia University President Katrina Armstrong issued a statement condemning the disruption of Shilon’s class.

“Today a History of Modern Israel class was disrupted by protesters who handed out fliers. We strongly condemn this disruption, as well as the fliers that included violent imagery that is unacceptable on our campus and in our community. No group of students has a right to disrupt another group of students in a Columbia classroom. Disrupting academic activities constitutes a violation of the Rules of University conduct and the nature of the disruption may constitute violations of other University policies,” said Armstrong.

“We will move quickly to investigate and address this act. We want to be absolutely clear that any act of antisemitism, or other form of discrimination, harassment, or intimidation against members of our community is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” she added.

Columbia has come under increased scrutiny over the rise in antisemitism on campus since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023.

Pro-Palestinian Arab demonstrators at Columbia set up dozens of tents in April, demanding that the university divest from its Israeli assets. The university administration called in police to dismantle the encampments.

On April 30, at the request of university leaders, hundreds of officers with the New York Police Department stormed onto campus, gaining access to the building through a second-story window and making dozens of arrests of the pro-Palestinian Arab demonstrators who had taken over Hamilton Hall.

Before the anti-Israel encampment on campus, the Chabad rabbi of Columbia University and a group of Jewish students were forced to leave the university campus for their own safety during a pro-Hamas demonstration.

In August, three Columbia University deans resigned from the school, after it was discovered that they had exchanged “very troubling” texts that “disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes”.

Later that month, Columbia University President Dr. Minouche Shafik announced her resignation, following months of criticism for her handling of campus antisemitism.

In September, on the first day of classes, dozens of masked anti-Israel protesters gathered at the entrance to Columbia and at Barnard College.