A scathing report against Columbia University that ignored violence against Jewish students on campus

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Jewish students at Columbia University were subjected to threats, attacks, ostracism and harassment on campus this past academic year. Many faculty members refused to believe their complaints or act to stop the problem. Columbia officials were recorded mocking Jewish students and faculty members in private messages filmed by an anonymous woman .

A faculty review team, set up to address a rise in anti-Semitism on campus, in a report sharply criticized the university for its failure to curb widespread hostility toward its Jewish students.

The team proposed a new definition of anti-Semitism, which includes encouraging violence against Jews or Israelis and discriminating against them based on their ties to Israel. If adopted, this definition could create new ways to sanction pro-Palestinian protesters. The report also recommends training for faculty members on prejudice to identify and prevent anti-Semitism in the future.

The team that compiled the report interviewed almost 500 students in 20 sessions and found that anti-Semitism against students was widespread on campus – in dormitories, clubs and classrooms – and on social networks.

A student who placed a mezuzah on the door of her dorm room in accordance with Jewish law became a target starting in October when people began knocking on her door at night demanding that she explain Israel’s actions. According to the report, she left the dormitory.

Jewish students who were walking on or near the campus reported that they were followed, chains were taken off them and they were pinned to the walls. Some of them were expelled from apolitical social and sports clubs when the heads of the clubs signed a petition condemning Israel’s war on Hamas.

The Jewish students at Columbia reported threats, ridicule and exclusion towards them, which caused some of them to stay away from certain subjects and professors. At the School of Public Health, a faculty member called Jewish donors to Columbia “rich white capitalists” who “laundered” money at the university.

Also according to the report published in the “Wall Street Journal”, a faculty member told an Israeli student that she served in an “army of murderers”. Another faculty member suggested not allowing IDF graduates to study on campus.

In April, after pro-Palestinians set up a camp on campus, Jewish students reported that hostility escalated. Demonstrators shouted “October 7th will be every day for you”.

“People you sat in class with, drank with, had lunch and dinner with, the next day they say they hope your whole family dies,” one student told the review team. “If I can sum it up in one word, it’s heartbreaking.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, the team recommended a new definition of anti-Semitism that includes “encouraging violence against Jews or Israelis; exclusion or discrimination based on Jewish identity or origin or ties to Israel.”

In addition, the team recommended guiding student clubs to avoid publishing statements unrelated to their goals, and to instruct faculty and staff on how to identify anti-Semitism and prevent it.

The university administration announced that it will study the report in depth and formulate an action plan in the coming weeks.
Dr. Katrina Armstrong, the interim president of Columbia, said that “this is an opportunity to recognize the damage done and commit to making the necessary changes to operate better.”

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