A network of Jewish alumni from Columbia University sent a scathing letter to President Minouche Shafik for allowing anti-Israel protesters to continue to invade campus — warning that violence against Jewish students may be imminent.
“At present, new, unauthorized protests are disrupting classes and creating an irrefutably unsafe environment for Jewish students,” the Columbia Jewish Alumni Association wrote in the letter dated Friday.
As of Friday night, protests demanding the university divest from Israel were still going strong after over 100 participants were arrested when the NYPD stormed the original tent encampment demonstration.
Numerous protesters who were not associated with Columbia swarmed campus — including actress Susan Sarandon and a former professor who once threatened a Post reporter with a machete.
The alumni group fears that “violence against Jewish students is imminent” due to the tensions around Israel’s war and the protests on campus.
The letter cited several troubling incidents that unfolded over the past few days – including when protesters were filmed shouting “The seventh of October is going to be every day for you” – referring to Hamas’ deadly terror attack on southern Israel last fall.
Antisemitism controversy at Columbia University: Key events
- Columbia University president Minouche Shafik was accused of “gross negligence” while testifying before Congress. Shafik refused to say if the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic.
- More than 100 Columbia professors signed a letter defending students who support the “military action” by Hamas.
- Antisemitic posters depicting Israel as a skunk appeared on campus — which experts liken to a propaganda poster used by the Nazis in World War II.
- Radical anti-Israel activists Charlotte Kates and Khaled Barakat told Columbia students a two-hour tirade, “There is nothing wrong with being a fighter in Hamas” in a seminar called “Resistance 101″ — weeks before the campus exploded in pro-Palestinian protests.
- Columbia students erected 60 tents on campus to demand that the university divest from Israel.
- More than 100 other protesters were arrested after Shafik announced the campus’s closure.
- Israel-born professor Shai Davidai was barred from campus after he attempted to lead a pro-Jewish rally.
- Every New York House GOP lawmaker demanded that Shafik resign immediately.
- Columbia University’s Jewish Alumni Association also called for Shafik’s resignation.
Columbia suspended students who participated in the tent encampment ahead of the arrests on Thursday, but that has not deterred the bulk of the demonstrations, the Jewish alumni group said.
“Suspended students, along with some faculty, are actively participating in these ‘protests’ and are openly fomenting unrest,” the letter read. “In addition, many outside protestors have flocked to Columbia’s campus in order to disrupt campus life and threaten its students.”
The alumni group pointed Shafik to a petition organized by Jewish students asking to take their remaining spring semester courses online due to fear over violence and intimidation in the classroom.
“While in their Barnard dorm, two students were threatened by protesters. A group of about 4 people put their middle fingers up and started aggressively screaming ‘we know where you live now’ and ‘you killed half our family,’” the petition stated.
One of the first signers on the petition was Eden Yadegar, a student at Columbia’s School of General Studies and the Jewish Theological Seminary.
“I don’t see the situation getting better anytime soon,” Yadegar told The Post shortly after the arrests on Thursday. “There’s no dialogue whatsoever.”
Follow The Post’s coverage of the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University:
- Columbia University anti-Israel protests live updates: Students facing suspension say ‘we won’t back down’
- NYPD ‘mobilizing’ for action at Columbia, but admin has not asked for cops yet
- Columbia anti-Israel protesters are defying order to disperse by 2 p.m.: Here’s what happens next
- House Democrats demand Columbia University trustees disband ‘tent camp’ or resign
“It is clear to us that Columbia is now under mob rule – a mob, by the way, that is only interested in attention and chaos, rather than thoughtful dialogue or reasoned debate,” the CJAA letter added.
In a conversation with The Post Thursday, Jewish alumni association co-founder Tyler Korff said that he was not interested in demanding President Shafik resign in the wake of her controversial congressional appearance over antisemitism on campus.
While he considered Shafik’s definition of antisemitism “grossly inadequate,” Korff said he would “rather work collaboratively with the university to improve the environment” as opposed to pushing for a complete shake-up.
