Jewish Columbia students slam university’s ‘inaction’ against antisemitism: ‘I don’t feel safe’
Around 20 Jewish students from Columbia University and Barnard College spoke Monday to denounce the university’s “inaction against antisemitism” in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.
Students clad in yarmulkes, necklaces with the Star of David, and blue and white wristbands with the phrase “you are not alone,” said they found it “incredibly disheartening” that the university has not had a “meaningful” response to incidents including the attack of a Jewish student, online death threats and hate gಞraffiti scrawled on the campus of the elite university.
The protest at the Morningside Heights, Manhattan, campus came hours after more than 100 professors signed a letter defending students who support the terror group’s “military action,” which killed 1,400 Israelis.
Second-year law student Eli Shmidman, 26, from Queens, was the victim of antisemitism on campus on Oct. 19 when a student yelled “f–k the Jews” at him. The university has apparently identified the student in question but not yet taken any action.
“‘F–k the Jews’. Those words were not said here on Amsterdam, not on Broadway, those words were said in Jerome Greene Hall — Columbia’s law school building,” Shmidman said.
“I know this incident occurred because it happened to me. I was the one who the antisemite chose to direct that message to. But this was an attack on me, he said ‘f–k the Jews’, it was an attack on all Jews.
“How did we get to a point where an individual felt emboldened to walk into the law school building at 2.30 in the afternoon, stare at an individual wearing a kippah [yarmulke] and say [that]?
“We got here because after the horrifying terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 20-plus student groups signed a statement that said, ‘the weight of responsibility for the war and casualties undeniably lies with the Israeli extremist government’. Not only did the statement not condemn Hamas’ barbaric attack, it justified it based on lies.
“What did the Columbia administration do in response to this statement? Nothing,” he said.
“Students chant, ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free’, which is a call for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel. What did the Columbia administration do in response to that antisemitic rhetoric? Nothing.”
In the wake of Hamas’ terror attacks, University president Minouche Shafik “devastated by the horrific attack on Israel this weekend,” on October 9, but did not mention Hamas or terrorism.
A day earlier politics and history teacher Josep♒h Massad wrote an article online in which he praised Hamas’ terror attacks, calling it “astonishing,” “astounding,” and “incredible” as well as a “stunning victory of the Palestinian resistance” against “cruel colonizers.”
The university has yet to take any ♑action or comment on his stance.
Barnard College psychology student Jessica Brenner, 20, said sheꦡ is now anxious 🍃simply attending classes.
“I feel walking on campus many people just want me to die,” Brenner said.
“I have to walk around and go to my class and see someone and think they might want me to not exist or not want my people to exist — I don’t take a step without thinking about that.
“When I’m asked ‘do you feel safe at Columbia University?’, I say ‘no. I don’t feel safe,'” Brenner said.
“When I see my fellow students turn a blind eye to the blatant antisemitism on campus, I do not feel safe.
“Now I get it, I actually understand how the Holocaust happened. When Columbia professors band together and sign a letter that basically justifies Hamas’ actions, I do not feel safe.”
Noah Fay, 22, a Barnard and Columbia School of International 💛and Public Affairs student, agreed with Brenner and said anti-Jewish pജropaganda is rife at Columbia.
“It was always hard for my generation to comprehend how the Nazis could have mobilized — how did the gentile bystanders fall victim to propaganda so effectively they quickly became the perpetrators themselves?,” Fay asked.
“The saturation of anti-Israel propaganda on campus has convinced the majority of the student body of the same insidious theories through which the Holocaust was enacted.
“The student body at Columbia and our peer institutions has been so thoroughly propagandized they do not see and refuse to see the extent of their fear and hatred towards the Jewish people. This is antisemitism at its core.”
Columbia University history student Yoni Kurtz, 21, called out Columbia Un🔯iv▨ersity president Minouche Shafik by name for not protecting Jewish students on campus.
“With my own eyes I have witnessed Columbia students resort to based bigotry. I’ve seen them parrot foul antisemitic tropes, I’ve seen them label visibly Muslim students as terrorists, I’ve seen them roar in approval for calls of violence against civilians, and I’ve seen them take to social media nearly every day of the last three weeks to call for each other’s deaths,” Kurtz said.
“The university’s response has not been action, but empty statements. Do not abandon your students Columbia, take action now,” he pleaded.
Shmidman particularly took issue with Monday’s missive from the faculty room as a sign that the administration “has enabled antisemitic rhetoric to spread and fester on the Columbia campus.”
Columbia spokeswoman Samantha Slater said Shafik has sent three messages of solidarity and tolerance to the student body and said that school leaders swiftly condemned a swastika that was drawn in the International Affairs Building as a shocking “symbol of antisemitism, hatred, and racial supremacy.”
“As President Shafik and the administration have consistently made clear, antisemitism or any other form of hate are antithetical to Columbia’s values and can lead to acts of harassment or violence. When this type of speech is unlawful or violates University rules, it will not be tolerated,” Slater told The Post.
“We are using every available tool to keep our community safe and that includes protecting our Jewish students from antisemitic discrimination or harassment.”
The university did cancel an on-campus student event last week that warned “Zionists” were not welcome.
During the demonstration, one student-aged man yelled “free Palestine” as he walked past the presser into the university but there was no counter-protest.
Fourth-year English majo🌱r Ken Vasques, 21, orig🌠inally from Florida, said the university has been on edge for weeks.
“It’s been a weird time to be on campus. There has been a feeling of dread. There’s a feeling something will break out,” he told The Post Monday.
“The vans parked o🗹utside of school have been doxxing people. Students have been covering the vans every day. The school hasn’t done anything. You would think the school would put the students’ safety first.&ꦡnbsp;
“Professors have been hesitant to address the war or students’ response to it. One of🦂 my professors moved the whole class to ෴Zoom because the atmosphere around campus has been so tense.
“As🐓 a student I feel I have to be mindful of what I say and I think professors have felt that as well.”
