Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, on Thursday called on the administration at Columbia University and Barnard College to act to stop the antisemitism on their campuses.
“Just as there must be zero tolerance for antisemitism at the United Nations, there must also be zero tolerance for antisemitism at Columbia University and Barnard College,” Danon wrote in a post on X.
“College administrators must do everything in their power to stop Jew hatred from spreading at these educational institutions. University campuses should be places of tolerance, respect and intellectual growth. Not places of fear, harassment and intimidation of Jewish and Israeli students that we have seen happen for far too long,” he added.
Danon’s call comes a day after pro-Palestinian Arab demonstrators initiated a sit-in at Barnard College.
New York Police Department officers later entered the campus and detained at least six individuals.
Wednesday’s incident follows a similar protest a week ago, when protesters stormed a campus building in protest of the expulsion of two students who had disrupted an Israeli professor’s class at Columbia earlier this semester.
During last week's protest, law enforcement sources said a group of about 20 students stormed the academic building, shoving a 41-year-old security officer to the ground. He was later transported to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, complaining of chest pains.
The disruptions are the latest in a series of incidents at Columbia University related to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. 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 of last year, 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.
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.