Activists from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Columbia University in New York City distributed a publication titled “The Columbia Intifada”, a four-page newspaper referencing violent efforts to oppose Israel, JNS reported Monday.
The group printed 1,000 copies of the paper, which featured a series of anonymously authored articles such as “Zionist Peace Means Palestinian Blood” and “The Myth of the Two-State Solution.” Additionally, it included instructions for “wheatpasting,” a method for posting anti-Israel banners in public spaces.
The publication was distributed at Columbia on December 6, according to JNS.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) condemned the publication as “outrageous,” calling for government intervention if Columbia fails to address what he characterized as campus antisemitism.
“If Columbia cannot protect Jewish students on their campus, they should lose federal funding and have their tax-exempt status revoked,” Lawler wrote on X, adding, “And for those students here on a visa engaged in an ‘intifada’ against American students of the Jewish faith? Deport them.”
Columbia University last year suspended both SJP and Jewish Voice for Peace, citing “repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events” by the two groups.
Previously, Brandeis University announced it is revoking recognition of the campus chapter of SJP, saying the group “openly supports Hamas”.
The group was also suspended at George Washington University over its anti-Israel messaging on campus.
On the latest provocation by SJP, a Columbia University representative told the New York Post that the school had launched an investigation into the newspaper.
“Using the Columbia name for a publication that glorifies violence and makes individuals in our community feel targeted in any way is a breach of our values,” the spokesperson said.
Columbia has come under increased scrutiny over the anti-Israel protests on campus, which have been on the rise since 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.
The antisemitism has continued into the new school year. On the first day of classes, dozens of masked anti-Israel protesters gathered at the entrance to Columbia and at Barnard College.
Days later, pro-Palestinian Arab protesters at Columbia University staged a sit-in at the Institute of Global Politics in the School of International and Public Affairs, where former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is teaching a course.