Rabbi Eli Buechler, the director of the OU-JLIC at Columbia/Barnard, is urging students to leave campus and go home due to growing threats of anti-Jewish violence by pro-Hamas provocateurs on the university’s campus.
The move comes after Jewish students and the Chabad rabbi of Columbia University were forced to leave the campus for their safety during a pro-Hamas demonstration on Motzei Shabbos. The protesters, who had erected 60 tents on campus on Wednesday, chanted anti-Israel slogans and threatened violence against Jewish students.
According to video footage posted on social media, the protesters attempted to break through the campus gate, chanting “Break da lock,” “Someone torch it,” and “Pick the lock.” They also shouted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “There is only one solution, Intifada revolution.”
The protesters targeted Jewish students, calling them “Al-Qassam’s next targets” in reference to the military wing of Hamas. One protester yelled, “Remember the 7th of October!” – a reference to the Hamas massacre of October 7 – and threatened that it would happen “10,000 times.”
The Columbia Jewish Alumni Association wrote to university president Minouche Shafik, warning that the ongoing protests were creating an unsafe environment for Jewish students and that violence was likely. They called on Shafik to take “all possible steps to protect Jewish safety.”
The university has faced heavy criticism for its handling of the situation. A congressional hearing on Wednesday highlighted the issue, with several congressmen criticizing the university for allowing professors who have celebrated the October 7 attack to continue teaching.
The university claims that it is balancing free speech and the right to protest with the need to protect Jewish students’ safety. However, it is obvious to everyone that more needs to be done to address the issue of antisemitism on campus.
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10 Responses
There reached a point in Germany in the 30s when the Jews said, “it won’t get any worse. This is Germany, after all.”
That’s where we are right now in America. Get your exit strategy ready.
NaNachIsntBreslov: I can defend myself and my family from home grown Jihadists, but I can’t defend anyone from bombs and missile strikes in Israel.
Oh it’s going to get a s lot worse. The boundaries have already been crossed and the ice has been broken. From here on it’s just a downward spiral. Eavh incident will be more shocking than the previous but we will be more and more desensitized as it becomes the norm but hopefully we will know that once it reaches “that” point, it’s time to go .
More Israelis have left EY since October 7th than Americans making aliyah. Hopefully, its just a temporary situation.
Yes to rightwriter
These guys are so much better than Trumps legions of white supremacists.
Why don’t they tell the Hamas students to go home. And not come back.
|if I was a child there and due to political safety concerns my child had to come home. I would be suing the university and those who made it difficult and unsafe for my child to return home. How about a refund on dorm and tuition and expenses?
arizona: Then don’t go to Israel. Go to South Korea. Go to Japan. Just have a plan to get out and keep your family safe. And don’t ignore the writing on the wall.
Hey Jackk and CTLawyer this is your crowd can you explain this for us all?
More like Germany in the 1920s, before the Nazis were elected. We know what to expect if the Progressive Democrats come to power.