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Columbia University Cancels Anti-Israel ‘Teach-In’ Celebrating Hamas’ Oct. 7 ‘Counteroffensive’
Anti-Israel students protest at Columbia University in New York City. Photo: Reuters/Jeenah Moon
Columbia University’s School of Social Work (CSSW) has canceled an anti-Israel event scheduled to take place this week celebrating Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israeli communities as a “counteroffensive.”
Columbia Social Workers 4 Palestine planned to hold the “teach-in and discussion” at CSSW on Wednesday. Promoting the event on social media, the campus group described Hamas’ surprise invasion of Israel on Oct. 7 as a “counteroffensive,” seemingly rationalizing the brutal onslaught in which Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas murdered over 1,200 and kidnapped 240 others as a defensive measure.
“We will discuss the significance of the Palestinian counteroffensive on October 7th and the centrality of revolutionary violence to anti-imperialism,” the group posted on X/Twitter. “In advocating for Palestinian liberation, Palestinians have engaged in nonviolent resistance tactics for years. These peaceful actions have been met with tear gas and armed opposition by the Israeli government.”
We will be having our second teach-in this Wednesday the 6th at 12pm, in room C-03 of the Social Work building! We will discuss the significance of the Palestinian counteroffensive on October 7th and the centrality of revolutionary violence to anti-imperialism. See y’all there! pic.twitter.com/PnAwMQwIx2
— Columbia Social Workers 4 Palestine (@CSSW4Palestine) December 3, 2023
The Hamas atrocities included widespread rape and other sexual violence against Israeli women, as well as copious documentation of torturing civilians.
When The Algemeiner reached out to Columbia for comment for this story, a spokesperson issued a statement on behalf of Melissa Begg, dean of CSSW, saying the event had been canceled due to its content and the organizers not following school protocol.
“We learned late last night of a flier and accompanying text being circulated about a December 6th event at the Columbia School of Social Work (CSSW),” the statement read. “This is not a CSSW-sponsored event. The students who organized the event did not seek approval for the fliers and text as required by CSSW processes. CSSW supports free speech but does not condone language that promotes violence in any manner, which is antithetical to our values. This event will not go forward at CSSW.”
News of Wednesday’s event circulated on social media and led to an uproar among Jewish and pro-Israel observers, who argued Columbia was in effect saying it was acceptable to defend Hamas’ actions.
“It’s time for all of us to raise our voices!” tweeted Columbia University professor Shai Davidai, who went viral in October for calling the school’s president a “coward” for refusing to condemn Hamas apologists and anti-Israel demonstrations on campus. “The School of Social Work at Columbia University cannot allow a ‘teach-in’ that sees rape as a counteroffensive and calls murder and kidnap of children ‘revolutionary violence!’”
US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), a progressive from the Bronx borough of New York City added, “If you are defending murder, rape, and torture of innocent civilians, you’re a sociopath pretending to be a social worker.”
Other users commented on how some progressive groups have seemingly abandoned the idea that accusations of rape should be believed before scrutinized when it comes to Israelis. “Why’s the #MeToo crowd silent on Hamas rape?” historian Simon Sebag Montefiore tweeted.
In its communications, Columbia Social Workers 4 Palestine has continually referred to the Oct 7. massacre as “Palestinians resisting the ongoing occupation.” On Nov. 8, the group occupied CSSW demanding the university issue a statement supporting “Palestinian resistance,” divesting any holdings “connected to Israel,” and the rewriting of the school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) mission statement to “center explicitly anti-imperialist perspectives” and favor “Palestinian national resistance.”
Columbia has become a hub of anti-Israel activism since the Oct. 7 massacre and come under intense scrutiny for its response to the pogrom and resultant war between Israel and Hamas. Several students and professors have released multiple letters seemingly blaming Israel for the current conflict and rationalizing the Hamas atrocities. One professor, Jospeh Massad, in a column published in Electronic Intifada called the Hamas attacks “innovative” and referred to the terrorists who para-glided into a music festival in Israel to rape and murder the young people there as “the air force of the Palestinian resistance.”
The university announced last month that it had suspended Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) as official student groups on campus through the end of the fall semester. Both SJP and JVP have been instrumental in organizing anti-Israel protests on Columbia’s campus since Hamas invaded Israel last month.
“This decision was made after the two groups repeatedly violated university policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” said Gerald Rosberg, senior executive vice president of the university who also chairs Columbia’s Special Committee on Campus Safety.
The Jewish community at Columbia has remained resolute in supporting Israel amid strong hostility from much of the faculty and student body, with hundreds of people gathering last month to raise money for Israeli emergency services during the Jewish state’s war with the Hamas terror group.
The fundraiser came days after the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition issued a Nov. 14 statement in the campus newspaper demanding the school “immediately divest all economic and academic stakes in Israel” in order to fight “Israeli apartheid” against Palestinians. The coalition falsely accused Israel of “actively committing genocide and ethnic cleansing” and called on Columbia to cancel the opening of its Tel Aviv Global Center and end a dual degree-program the school offers in partnership with Tel Aviv University.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Columbia University Cancels Anti-Israel ‘Teach-In’ Celebrating Hamas’ Oct. 7 ‘Counteroffensive’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.