Columbia University Faces Protests, Claims of Bias Over Israel Course Teaching

Columbia University is facing a dispute over campus protests about Israel and Zionism. HonestReporting, the pro-Israel media watchdog whose video and article are the source for this report, describes protests that began as “peaceful” and have since escalated into open hostility toward Jewish students and the glorification of violence. These characterizations are the outlet’s own and have not been independently confirmed here.

According to the report, masked protesters entered a class on Modern Israeli History and distributed flyers reading “Burn Zionism to the ground” and “Crush Zionism.” The report says that, despite claims of nonviolence, some protesters were caught on video glorifying the Intifada, an uprising the report describes as marked by deadly terror attacks against Jews. It also states that demonstrators rallied in support of convicted Palestinian terrorists.

The report also focuses on Columbia’s faculty. It says one professor, who had equated student protesters with Palestinians in Gaza, is now teaching a course on Contemporary Western Civilization. It further says that Joseph Massad, a professor the report describes as infamous for praising Hamas’s October 7 attack, is leading a class on Israeli and Palestinian politics and Zionism. According to the report, his appointment led another professor, Lawrence Rosenblatt, to resign in protest.

The report additionally says that Shai Davidai, an Israeli professor who opposed the anti-Israel protests on campus, is barred from campus. The source does not state the basis for this restriction in the material provided.

Quoting Jewish students at Columbia, the report summarizes their concern this way: “A Jewish student’s options for a class on Israel/Zionism are: take it with Joseph Massad, a known antisemite who celebrated October 7th—or be protested.” The report characterizes Jewish students’ safety and access to course options as being affected by these events, a concern that calls for protecting those facing intimidation (Proverbs 31:8-9).

Source: Read the original report