Columbia University has suspended several students over an anti-Israel event last month that featured a speaker “known to support terrorism,” the university’s president announced Friday.
Columbia University President Minoush Shafik said in a statement that “a number of students have been suspended as investigations continue” into the March 24 incident “which occurred in a campus residential facility.” “The university has already banned students twice.” It has occurred. ”
“It featured a speaker who is known to support terrorism and promote violence. Let me state for the record that this event was an abhorrent violation of our values,” Shafiq said.
The student newspaper is columbia spectatorreports that at least four students are facing disciplinary action in connection with a March 24 panel discussion titled “Resistance 101” that featured Khalid Barakat among the speakers. did.
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Pro-Palestinian demonstrators demonstrate near Columbia University on February 2, 2024 in New York City. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Israeli government documents Barakat has ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a foreign terrorist organization designated by the U.S. State Department.
House Education and Labor Committee on March 25th I also called out Barakat’s link. In contrast to the terrorist group PFLP, he pointed out that he told Columbia University students in a webinar that “friends of Hamas and Islamic Jihad” emphasized the importance of support on U.S. college campuses. added, “They don’t care what Biden says or says.” Kamala Harris says. ”
Columbia then “also notified law enforcement and hired an outside investigation firm to uncover all the facts,” Shafik said Friday. “With their help, we identified the organizers and participants and asked them to cooperate with our investigation or face immediate disciplinary action. We are currently conducting interviews and gathering facts.”
“We recognize that our campus is deeply shaken by the war between Israel and Hamas, which began with the horrific Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on October 7 and is now unfolding as a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Masu.” Shafik said. “I did not become president to punish students. At the same time, there must be consequences for this kind of behavior on our campus. As surprising as this is in itself, I want to make it clear that it is true.” It is completely unacceptable for members of this community to promote the use of terrorism and violence. ”
At least in advance of Shafik’s scheduled testimony before the House Education and Labor Committee on April 17 as part of a congressional investigation into rising anti-Semitism on college campuses, Columbia University’s anti-Semitism law It appears that the government is strengthening its enactment. The attack carried out by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7th. When the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania testified before Congress in December, they could not directly condemn the intifada or calls for the slaughter of Jews on their campuses. The presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania resigned amid the controversy, while current and former Harvard University president Claudine Gay resigned amid a separate plagiarism scandal.
New York City police officers clash with pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrating near Columbia University in New York City on February 2, 2024. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Shai Davidai, a Jewish professor at Columbia University, went to the He praised the suspension of four students following an event featuring Mr. Katt.
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“It’s a good start, but it’s still not enough.” he wrote. “The anti-terrorism umbrella group that organized this event is made up of 94 different official student groups. All 94 leaders of the organization have been given a 24-hour deadline to denounce the umbrella group or be suspended from campus. A reprieve should be granted.”
Mr. Davidei shared television footage reported by the Middle East Media Institute in which Mr. Barakat openly supports terrorist organizations, accusing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement of supporting terrorists. He is said to have told them that he was receiving funds from terrorist organizations.
Columbia University President Minoush Shafik is scheduled to testify before the House Education and Labor Committee on April 17. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Spectator reports that students from Columbia University Apartheid Divest and the Columbia United Auto Workers Union were among the four students suspended and kicked out of campus housing over an event featuring Barakat. He was the first speaker at a large protest organized by labor groups on Thursday.
According to the student newspaper, more than 100 demonstrators took part in the protest.
The suspended student, who is not named in the report, complained about losing a full scholarship to Columbia University to pursue a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies.
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“I left behind my community, my partners, my job, my entire life, based on Columbia University’s promise of a full scholarship to pursue Palestine studies,” she was quoted as saying. “Ironically, when I immigrated to the United States to study at Columbia University, my mother was very happy. She believed that once I was outside of Palestine, I would finally be safe. Colombia is not only a complicit institution, but also a violent institution.”
The suspension came after Shafiq vowed to take action in a statement on Friday.
“We are in the process of identifying the participants and they will be subject to disciplinary action based on our policy,” Shafiq said. “This university will only thrive if we can build a strong foundation of respect for both each other and our rules.”
