Arutz Sheva spoke to Ofir Dayan, a student at the Columbia University and External Relations Chair. of Students Supporting Israel, about the fight against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as well as about hate on campus.

“Many pro-Israel and Jewish students do not feel welcome on campus,” she said, recalling that when she first arrived at Columbia she was advised not to take certain courses with certain professors because she would receive lower grades due to her being Israeli.

“Unfortunately, after a year on campus, I’ve realized this is true. We have professors from Columbia coming to Students Supporting Israel’s events and protesting us while they are professors from Columbia University. It’s a very dangerous climate and we should monitor it and do the best we can to stop it,” continued Dayan.

“I think the climate on campuses, especially the more left-wing campuses, is way worse than [the climate] in real life [outside of campus]. It does not represent how people on the street think, but it’s very important to understand that people who go to Columbia University, or any other ivy league school, are going to be the next senators, congressmen, representatives and have an influence on society, and what now seems to be only on campuses could very easily be a part of civilian life, and that would be very dangerous for the State of Israel, for pro-Israel students, pro-Israel people, and ultimately Jews,” she warned.

Some of the anti-Israel groups on campus, said Dayan, view Hamas as a legitimate movement and not as a terrorist group.

During the recent “Israeli Apartheid Week” on campus, a group placed a table between the displays of Students Supporting Israel and the anti-Israel group Students for Justice in Palestine, with the goal of getting the two sides to talk.

“We were ready to come and talk and they were never will to come and talk to us. It’s part of their policy to not discuss or engage with any Zionist person or entity, and this demonstrates how things are on the ground. We’re there, sharing our story and willing to talk and, as in real life, they’re not willing to talk to us,” said Dayan.