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Columbia University Interim President Issued Delayed, Neutral Statements About Hamas Oct. 7 Attack, Campus Antisemitism
The “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University, located in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on April 25, 2024. Photo: Reuters Connect
Columbia University Interim President Katrina Armstrong has exhibited a neutral and waffling stance on the Israel-Hamas war and campus antisemitism in her public statements, raising questions about whether she will forcefully defend Jewish students as classes begin in the coming weeks.
The Ivy League university announced on Wednesday that Armstrong would replace embattled former President Minouche Shafik. Armstrong’s ascension to the presidency comes amid withering criticism from Jewish students and alumni, as well as US lawmakers, over the campus climate in the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 onslaught across southern Israel.
While serving as the Dean of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia, Armstrong waited two days to address the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, which included rampant sexual violence against Israelis and the biggest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
In a letter titled “Regarding the crisis in Israel,” Armstrong lamented the “terrible violence and loss of life” in the Jewish state. The letter did not mention Hamas, which rules Gaza, nor did it mention the some 25 hostages kidnapped or 1,200 people slaughtered at the hands of the Palestinian terrorist group.
“The scale of the conflict engulfing Israel and Gaza and the impact on innocent civilians are horrifying,” the Oct. 9 letter read. “Those of us with friends, loved ones, or colleagues in the region are worrying about their safety and feel this especially acutely. This is a time for us to come together and to embrace each other with compassion and empathy.”
Armstrong published a statement on Dec. 22 referring to simmering campus tensions over the ensuing Israel-Hamas war as a “complicated moment.” In contrast to her first statement, Armstrong mentioned Hamas’ murders and hostages. She also acknowledged the growing problem of campus antisemitism at the New York City-based university.
“The Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack and the hostages remaining in captivity weigh very heavily on many in our community. And I have heard personal stories from other student leaders about the heartrending situation in Gaza where the civilian death toll continues to climb and military strikes go on,” Armstrong wrote.
In April, Armstrong penned a statement in response to the anti-Israel encampments on Columbia’s campus. She urged students to maintain focus on their academic work while they navigate the “immensely difficult issues that are roiling” the university.
“Every member of our community holds personal opinions of the events of the last week, and past months. Though your views and personal journeys are many, the distress and pain we feel is experienced by all,” Armstrong wrote.
Armstrong continued, emphatically denouncing “hateful language, calls for violence, and the targeting of any individuals or groups based on their beliefs, ancestry, religion, gender identity, or any other identity or affiliation.”
Columbia’s campus descended into chaos last spring. Anti-Israel campus activists held raucous rallies, chanting slogans such as “Burn Tel Aviv to the ground!” and “go back to Poland!” Jewish students reported heading home early to avoid the hostile campus atmosphere.
Since Oct. 7, Columbia University has become a hub of rising antisemitism and anti-Israel activism on American college campuses. In the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ attacks, numerous Columbia student groups issued statements blaming Israel for the massacre. Several campus groups categorically banned “Zionist” students from membership. Jewish students reported antisemitic bias and discrimination from Columbia faculty and staff.
The US Congress initiated an investigation into antisemitism at the Ivy League campus. Three Columbia deans stepped down from their positions after the House Committee on Education and the Workforce released a trove of text message exchanges among the administrators. In the texts, the university leaders exhibited a dismissive attitude toward the experiences of Jewish students on campus.
In the immediate aftermath of Minouche’s resignation, the Columbia chapter of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP campus group released a statement vowing to continue their demonstrations. The group warned Armstrong to acquiesce to their demands or face consequences.
“After months of chanting ‘Minouche Shafik you can’t hide’ she finally got the memo. To be clear, any future president who does not pay heed to the Columbia student body’s overwhelming demand for divestment [from Israel] will end up exactly as President Shafik did,” the group wrote on X/Twitter.
Columbia’s SJP chapter publicly endorsed Hamas in May.
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Court injunction at Vancouver Island University ends the campus encampment trend (for now)
A Supreme Court of British Columbia justice in Vancouver issued an injunction to Vancouver Island University on Aug. 15 to remove a pro-Palestinian encampment, the last of its kind at a Canadian university, from its campus in Nanaimo within 72 hours, or by Aug, 18 at 9:30 a.m. PDT. Jewish organizations were pleased by the […]
The post Court injunction at Vancouver Island University ends the campus encampment trend (for now) appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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‘Token Ethnic President’: Pro-Hamas Crowd Launches Racist Verbal Assault on Black Americans Over Harris Support
Anti-Zionist TikTok user calls African Americans “disgusting” for supporting Kamala Harris. Photo: Screenshot
Anti-Zionist activists recently launched a barrage of racist attacks against African Americans on social media, triggering an exchange of insults as well as arguments over the Arab world’s role in enslaving Black Africans.
“Black people also wear a uniform and get on a plane and come to our countries and kill us!” one influencer said in a compilation of TikTok posts shared by pro-Israel activist Hen Mazzig. “You vote the same f—king melanated f—king people to government that sign papers to kill us. I don’t want to hear it anymore!”
“Keep Palestinians names out of your f—king mouths when you’re trying to defend your decision for voting for Kamala,” another said, referring to Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who is Black.
TikTok user “Dan1ahan” charged that Black Americans “switched up 180 on Palestinians and people who are Palestinian activists the second we have a Black woman running for office,” describing the alleged betrayal as “disgusting.” Touching on the upcoming US presidential election, one Arab woman said all Black people want is a “token ethnic president” in office.
Black TikTok influencers descended on the platform in droves to denounce the comments, with several announcing that they intended not only to remove Gaza-related content from their profiles but also to cease engaging in anti-Zionist activity entirely. The conversation escalated in subsequent posts, touching on the continuance of Black slavery in the Arab world and what young woman called “voracious racism” against African Americans.
“What’s even crazier is that earlier people were like, oh these are bots, no — this is how people really feel. And she made a video that’s a real human being that feels exactly that way,” an African American woman said. “These are people who feel like they are entitled to the support of Black people no matter what, that they get to push us around and tell us who the hell we get to vote for if we support them … They’ve lost their minds.”
An African American male said, “Why don’t we talk about the Arab slave trade? And keep in mind that the Arabs have enslaved more Black people than the Europeans combined.” Another African American woman accused Arabs of not denouncing slavery in Antebellum America.
“We spend our money with you,” she said. “We stand in solidarity with you, and you keep asking for more, and more, and more, and it’s never enough.”
This is not the first time that anti-Zionists have hurled racist abuse and expletives at Black Americans while denigrating their accomplishments and status as full citizens of the United States.
In April, an anti-Zionist student group at George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, DC staged an unprecedented protest of a talk by US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the university’s Elliot School of International Affairs.
“Zionist imperial puppet,” “imperial and blackface,” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” were among the chants yelled by members of the Student Coalition for Palestine (GWSCP) outside the building — a clamoring which could be heard throughout the Elliot School. Thomas-Greenfield was at GWU to speak at an event held to encourage Black youth to pursue careers in foreign affairs. GWSCP protested her appearance because she had vetoed multiple UN Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has been waging a military campaign against Hamas following the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 massacre of Israeli civilians.
In a pamphlet distributed to everyone who showed up to the event, the students accused Greenfield of being a “puppet,” alluding to the fact that she is a Black woman holding a distinguished presidential appointment. GWSCP seemed to suggest that the color of Greenfield’s skin excluded the possibility that she is an agent of her own destiny.
“For as long as we have been here, we have resisted these systems of oppression, but the United States of Amerikkka [sic] has always used Black bodies as puppets to carry out repression and dissent,” the pamphlet said. It also compared Greenfield to Black enslaved persons who had been assigned, against their will, to work as overseers of other enslaved persons on cotton plantations.
Later, according to GWU’s official student newspaper, the group encircled Dean of Student Affairs Colette Coleman, an African American woman, outside the building. One member of the group began “clapping in her face” while others screamed that she should resign.
That same month, at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, anti-Zionists occupying an administrative building verbally abused a Black officer, whom they accused of betraying his racial identity. “Shame on you!” they shouted at him. Someone else said, “You are Black in America, and you’re not standing with the marginalized people of the world. What does that make you?”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Token Ethnic President’: Pro-Hamas Crowd Launches Racist Verbal Assault on Black Americans Over Harris Support first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Vows to Deport Hamas Supporters During ‘Stop Antisemitism’ Event, Unveils New Initiative for Jewish Voters
Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US, April 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
Former US President Donald Trump vowed to deport foreign supporters of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas if he’s re-elected to the White House during an event centered on anti-Jewish hate on Thursday.
While speaking at the “Stop Antisemitism” event in New Jersey, the Republican presidential nominee vowed to remove pro-Hamas activists from the United States.
“We will deport the foreign jihad sympathizers, and we will deport them very quickly. And Hamas supporters will be gone,” Trump said. “If you hate America, if you want to eliminate Israel, then we don’t want you in our country. We really don’t want you in our country.”
Trump also promised to ban refugees from Hamas-ruled Gaza, arguing that they would pose a terror threat to the US. He also vowed to arrest anti-Israel agitators who engage in vandalism or violent acts.
“I will ban refugee settlements from terror-infested areas like the Gaza Strip, and we will arrest the pro-Hamas thugs who vandalize federal property and make life very difficult in this country for a lot of people,” Trump continued.
Republican lawmakers have raised alarm bells at the prospect of resettling refugees from Gaza, the Palestinian enclave bordering Israel to the south. Last month, six Republican senators sent a letter to US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, requesting an increase of security measures along the northern border in response to Canada accepting an influx of refugees from Gaza. The senators wrote that they were “deeply concerned” that Gazan refugees could sneak into the United States.
In the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 people throughout southern Israel, Republicans have scrambled to secure more support from Jewish voters, sensing growing tensions between Democrats and the traditionally-liberal voting bloc.
In an attempt to lure more Jewish voters, Trump’s campaign announced the launch of “Jewish Voices for Trump” this week. The Republican nominee’s campaign described the initiative as “a coalition of thought leaders, business trailblazers, former administration officials, authors, influencers, and those within the Jewish community.”
“While the world has fallen into chaos with [US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala] Harris, President Trump’s Abraham Accords chartered new territory in regional stability, not just for Israel, but for the world. With President Trump we knew we had a White House that stood with Israel, and a president who defended the Jewish people,” the group’s mission statement read.
Though Democrats largely voiced support for Israel’s defensive military operations against Hamas in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, high-profile liberal politicians have gradually expressed more criticism against the Jewish state. Prominent Democratic lawmakers such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) suggested that Israel’s war in Gaza could be tantamount to a “genocide.” A group of 30 House Democrats sent a letter to US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging them to “reconsider” arms shipments to Israel and arguing that the Jewish state has not taken proper precautions to preserve civilian life while targeting Hamas.
Recent polling indicates that Jewish voters may be shifting to Trump in record-breaking numbers, suggesting that the former president’s overtures could be working. Jewish voters prefer Harris over Trump by a margin of 52.7 percent to 45.9 percent, according to the survey conducted by pollster Richard Baris.
The post Trump Vows to Deport Hamas Supporters During ‘Stop Antisemitism’ Event, Unveils New Initiative for Jewish Voters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.