Over the past several days, we have witnessed Columbia University, one of the oldest institutions of higher education in America, transform into a hellscape of virulent anti-Semitism masked under the thinly veiled guise of anti-Israel protests.
The quad where I so fondly remember spending my days as an undergraduate is now home to a university-sanctioned encampment of hate, sequestering Columbia’s Jewish community into their dorm rooms — and even leaving campus entirely — in fear of their physical safety. New York Mayor Eric Adams’ offers to activate the NYPD to dispel the pro-Palestinian mob have fallen on deaf ears with university administrators, including President Minouche Shafik. Unfortunately, this unfolding chaos is just a new chapter of anti-Semitism that has long been embedded in the culture at Columbia and other elite universities nationwide.
As an American Jew, I was proud to serve as president of Columbia’s largest pro-Israel group, then known as LionPAC, during my junior year in 2010-2011. My tenure involved routinely responding to a variety of protests against the Jewish state. Mock “apartheid walls” and cardboard cutouts of Israeli tanks were erected on Low Steps. Holocaust deniers, hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine, spoke freely under the infinite confines of “academic freedom”. And students simply trying to walk to class were subjected to “die ins” on College Walk, where anti-Israel activists donning fake IDF uniforms and machine guns would pretend to slaughter Palestinians, who would lay lifeless on the ground for minutes on end. These charades were no surprise at a university that hosted one of the world’s most prolific Holocaust deniers, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and tenured Professor Joseph Massad, who called Hamas’ October 7th slaughter of innocent Israeli Jews a “stunning” and “astonishing” display of “Palestinian resistance”.
In other words, today’s protests are a natural manifestation of Columbia’s seemingly limitless tolerance for anti-Semitism. There is ample room for reasonable debate about the war between Hamas and Israel and the Israeli government’s policies vis-à-vis Palestinians. That is not the goal of these demonstrations. Jewish students are being verbally assaulted with calls to “go back to Europe,” and rather than clearing the encampment, Columbia has instead cancelled in person classes to the detriment of all students.
In my experience, Columbia’s pro-Israel faculty have always eschewed public activism out of fear of professional exile or termination. Columbia Business School assistant professor Shai Davidai, who has been heroically outspoken about the horrific conditions on campus and the administration’s abject failure to protect students, on Monday was denied entry to campus. Meanwhile, anti-Israel professors are allowed to freely celebrate terrorism and promulgate genocide with little to no repercussions.
At best, Columbia’s feckless administration is demonstrating a shocking inability to distinguish between free speech and hate speech. At worst, they are complicit in an egregious, coordinated effort to harass and bully Jewish students to flee campus altogether — a tactic employed from time immemorial against the Jewish people.
President Shafik’s young tenure at the helm of Columbia will be defined by what she does next. She can either continue to protect those espousing unfettered anti-Semitism, imperiling the safety of its students and their ability to attend classes. Or she can use this moment to send a message that those who call for genocide against the Jewish people will not enjoy safe harbor at Columbia.
This week, Jews around the globe will come together to celebrate Passover by retelling the story of the ancient Israelites’ enslavement and exile in Egypt. Now is the moment to prove that the suffering of our ancestors was not endured in vain. The Jewish people must remain steadfast and resolute against those who seek our destruction.
I commend the bravery of Professor Davidai and those Jewish students on campus who refuse to be intimidated by these hateful masses. The answer is not to retreat, but no student should ever be forced to choose between their physical safety and attending classes. President Shafik must allow the NYPD to disperse these mobs, arrest those who refuse to leave, and restore order to an institution that once stood as a hallmark of America’s promise.
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Michael Shapiro, Columbia University Class of 2012, is a former communications advisor and speechwriter for House Speaker Paul D. Ryan.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.