As college students eventually return to campus, it’s important to note that even amidst a relentless COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Israel advocates have not diminished their attacks on pro-Israel advocates and Jewish students on campus. One of their many tactics is to introduce resolutions inspired by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement...
STATEMENT Regarding the Columbia University BDS Referendum
As the Jewish News Syndicate recently reported, Columbia students are voting on whether the school should “‘divest its stocks, funds and endowment from companies that profit from or engage in the State of Israel’s acts towards Palestinians’ that, according to the student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), ‘fall under...
Countering Anti-Israel Hate at Columbia University
This semester did not go as planned for many college students. No one expected the pandemonium that accompanied COVID-19, forcing us to learn remotely for half of the semester and causing the senior class to miss graduation and commencement. COVID-19 has been disastrous on a global scale. It has killed...
Excusing Hamas Terrorism at Columbia
Imagine yourself 15 years from now. You have settled down, found a life partner, and started a family. You have a job that makes you happy, a vibrant community, and beautiful children. All of a sudden, war breaks out, and you find yourself in the crosshairs of a battle you...
70-Plus Faculty Members Thank Columbia University President for Battling BDS Vote
More than 70 Columbia faculty members have signed a letter thanking university president Lee Bollinger for expressing opposition ahead of an undergraduate student referendum next month calling on the university to divest from companies doing business in Israel. The 74 faculty members, as of Monday, signed the open letter—organized by the Academic Engagement Network (AEN)—to...
Even in a Pandemic, Columbia Students Promote BDS
Why, at an institution of higher learning, do intelligent students feel free to indulge themselves in such outright aggressions against their peers? In part, surely, because of the license, tacit or explicit, given them by their professors. In part, too, because they are unafraid of a backlash from their peers....
Jewish Students Must Stop ‘Debating’ The Hate Against Them And Start Fighting It
In retrospect, the pattern of antagonism towards Jews and Israel that became visible at Columbia University in the early 2000s and was documented in the film Columbia Unbecoming wasn’t the worst expression of hostility; it was merely the first one to attract attention to an essential truth: On college campuses, Israelis and...
Noura Erakat’s Reinterpretation of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Noura Erakat’s speech at Columbia Law School on Oct. 24 was articulate and intelligent, mirroring many students on our campus. The Palestinian American attorney and activist spoke about her new book Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine, in which she examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of international...