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Columbia University Jewish Community Remains Resolute With Israel Support as Student Groups Expand New BDS Coalition

Anti-Israel students protest at Columbia University in New York City. Photo: Reuters/Jeenah Moon

The Jewish community at Columbia University in New York has remained resolute in supporting Israel amid strong hostility from much of the faculty and student body, with hundreds of people gathering this week to raise money for Israeli emergency services during the Jewish state’s war with the Hamas terror group.

Over 350 alumni, faculty, parents, and students on Monday night gathered at the Moise Safra Center in Manhattan for a fundraiser organized by Chabad at Columbia University and the school’s Jewish Alumni Association to raise money for a new ambulance for Israel’s emergency response service Magen David Adom.

“Recognizing the difficulties students are facing at Columbia University, a group of dedicated Columbia alumni of the Columbia Jewish Alumni Association wanted to do something to help,” Naomi Drizin, the wife of Chabad Rabbi Yuda Drizin, told The Algemeiner. “The primary objective was to come together in celebration of Jewish life while actively contributing to a positive cause — raising funds for a Magen David Adom ambulance.”

The vehicle, Drizin added, will be named the Columbia Jewish Community Ambulance for Magen David Adom and serve as “a symbol of hope and light.”

One student who spoke to The Algemeiner said the event was important to the school’s Jewish community, which is still mourning the lives lost on Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the deadliest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

Organized in just three weeks, the student described the event as a triumph.

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.

The statement, which was was signed by dozens of campus organizations, argued that Israel’s defensive war in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 massacre, in which Hamas terrorists also kidnapped hundreds of people from Israel as hostages, was part of an effort to “annex and ethnically cleanse” Palestinian land.

“The Zionist project is reaching its apex as Israel continues to violate international law by indiscriminately bombing civilians and cutting off their access to food, water, medicine, and fuel,” the statement read. “These attacks are explicitly connected to Israel’s attempt to annex and ethnically cleanse more Palestinian land of its indigenous population. As such, it is imperative that we act now. If we wait, there may not be a Gaza left to defend.”

The statement did not mention the Hamas atrocities or that Israel withdraw all its soldiers and civilian settlers from Gaza in 2005.

CUAD supports the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward the Jewish state’s eventual elimination.

Columbia’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) tweeted on Tuesday that the coalition has grown.

“Excited to announce we have officially hit 80 student organizations in our coalition in just one week!” the group wrote. “Columbia students, please mobilize your organizations to join our coalition! We are showing Columbia that the students refuse to be complicit in apartheid and genocide.”

Columbia announced earlier this month that it had suspended SJP and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), another anti-Israel group, as official student organizations on campus through the end of the fall semester.

“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.

Hundreds of students walked out of class at Columbia that Thursday, demanding an immediate ceasefire to the fighting in Gaza, for school officials to falsely call Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians a “genocide,” and for the university to boycott and divest from Israeli institutions. The protesters did not mention Hamas or demand the release of the hostages still being held in Gaza.

The prior day, dozens of students from Columbia’s School of Social Work staged an over nine-hour sit-in, claiming they were expressing solidarity with local and national Palestinian resistance movements — a stunt that school officials said violated rules in the university’s code of conduct.

Both SJP and JVP have been instrumental in organizing anti-Israel protests on Columbia’s campus since Hamas’ onslaught across southern Israel last month.

“Lifting the suspension will be contingent on the two groups demonstrating a commitment to compliance with university policies and engaging in consultations at a group leadership level with university officials,” said Rosberg, who added that the suspension means the two groups will not be eligible to hold events on campus or receive university funding.

The suspension has not deterred anti-Israel groups at Columbia from holding protests in solidarity with SJP, which appears to be still organizing events with other campus organizations despite its suspension.

In its Nov. 14 statement, CUAD said it was “moved to action by the ostensibly politically motivated suspension” of SJP and JVP, demanding Columbia reinstate both groups and “issue an official apology for their unjust suspension in violation of university procedure.” SJP and JVP were the first two signatories of the statement.

Columbia has come under intense scrutiny for its response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 pogrom and the resultant war between Israel and the Palestinian terror group. Several students and professors have released multiple letters seemingly blaming Israel for the current conflict and rationalizing the Hamas atrocities.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Columbia University Jewish Community Remains Resolute With Israel Support as Student Groups Expand New BDS Coalition first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool

US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.

Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.

“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.

“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”

Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.

After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.

Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.

On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.

The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.

On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.

Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.

Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.

ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.

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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

i24 NewsIn a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.

The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.

“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”

Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.

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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.

Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.

Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.

Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.

The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.

The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.

Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.

Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.

Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.

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