Columbia Puts Three Admins on Leave After Text Messages Denigrating Antisemitism Panel Come to Light
Columbia University has placed three administrators on leave after text messages emerged showing them denigrating members of an antisemitism panel.
The New York Times, citing a report from the Washington Free Beacon, described how the administrators sent texts alleging that the panelists “were taking full advantage of this moment” because of “huge fundraising potential” and sent vomit emoji after linking to a piece by Columbia Rabbi Yonah Hain titled “Sounding the Alarm.” Other text messages featured them saying it was “difficult to listen to” and “LMAO” (laughing my a—off) about what the Times described as “a sarcastic message” regarding Columbia/Barnard Hillel Executive Director Brian Cohen.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) has given the university a deadline to provide the text messages to the House Committee on Education & the Workforce that she chairs by June 26.
Jewish Woman, Husband Attacked by People Shouting “Free Palestine” at NYC Elementary School Graduation
A Jewish woman and her husband alleged that they were attacked by a family who spoke Arabic and shouted “Free Palestine” and “Death to Israel” at them, the New York Post reported.
Lana, the Jewish woman, told the Post that they were taking pictures with their two kids in the after of PS 682 Brooklyn’s graduation cermony; the pictures were being taken in front of a school banner. A boy who waved a Palestinian flag as he walked across the commencement stage attempted to push the family away from the banner. “We told them there was space for both families,” Lana said. “An older man turned to us and said ‘Free Palestine!’ for no reason. My husband told him this was not the time or place for that but the man cursed at him in Arabic, and shouted, ‘Free Palestine, Gaza is Ours, Death to Israel.’” Her husband, Johan, told the Post that he was hit in the head after he demanded the older man back away and that a “scuffle” ensued in which a group of people held him down he was put in a “chokehold.” Lana claimed that she began recording the incident when “a woman from the group came up from behind me, pulled me by the hair, and knocked me down on the ground, shouting, ‘I will kill you.’”
A spokesman for the city’s Department of Education told the Post, “Initial reports we have received from multiple witnesses indicate that both families engaged in aggressive behavior, but we are still investigating the matter and are simultaneously engaging with families as we work towards a resolution.” Lana told the Post that “my husband was trying to deescalate the situation” and accused the department of ‘trying to sweep it under the rug to avoid further scrutiny of this heinous antisemitic act.”
Columbia SJP Calls for Release of Suspect Accused of Arson Attacks at UC Berkeley
Columbia’s Student for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter shared a statement from Columbia Apartheid Divest on Instagram June 23 calling for the release of the man suspected of firebombing of a police vehicle and three acts of arson on UC Berkeley’s campus.
The suspect, Casey Robert Goonan, was arrested on June 17 on several felony charges, including possessing and using a destructive devices and arson. His bail was initially set at $1 million but reduced to $450,000. The statement shared by Columbia SJP demanded to “Free Casey.” “The fires on UC campuses have been in direct response to the university’s violent police repression of their own students,” the statement read, per Campus Reform. “The spark ignited on US campuses during the intifada of the last few months cannot be quelled, and further repression will only continue to transform these sparks into flames. The flames are small gestures that display the discontent of everyday people and the seriousness of their purpose: to end the genocide, liberate Palestine from the zionist [sic.] occupation, and topple all institutions profiting from colonial, racial capitalism.”
Survey: 72% of Americans Call for Punishing Members of Anti-Israel Encampments
A recent survey found that 72% of American believes that those involved in anti-Israel encampments on college campuses should be punished by their respective universities.
The survey, conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) NORC at the University of Chicago, found that 18% of those in the 72% camp supported expelling the students involved, according to The College Fix. Sixty-two percent also said that the encampments didn’t affect how they felt about the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“Public colleges and universities can usually ban encampments without violating the First Amendment, so long as the ban serves a reasonable purpose, enforcement is consistent and viewpoint-neutral, and students maintain other avenues for expressing themselves,” FIRE Director of Campus Rights Advocacy Lindsie Rank told the Fix.
