Columbia University's Task Force on Antisemitism released its fourth and final report this week on the extent and causes of antisemitism on the Columbia campus.
The 70-page report noted that Columbia's Middle East studies department is entirely staffed by people who oppose Zionism and the State of Israel. It stated that Columbia “lacks full-time tenure line faculty expertise in Middle East history, politics, political economy and policy that is not explicitly anti-Zionist.”
It further stated that students cannot find any courses that treat Zionism as a "legitimate" viewpoint and criticized professors and faculty who pressured or offered incentives to students to participate in anti-Israel protests, noting that teachers should aim to teach students "how to think, not what to think."
Among the antisemitic incidents the report found were multiple cases where instructors singled out Jewish or Israeli students for "personal scapegoating" over Israel's perceived actions.
One of the most significant incidents was when a lecture by a visiting Israeli professor was disrupted by anti-Israel protesters because it deviated from the usual anti-Zionist ideology.
The report comes as Columbia received an "F" grade for its handling of campus antisemitism under new rankings published by the StopAntisemitism organization. Columbia was one of fourteen universities and colleges to receive a failing grade.