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‘Subset of Jewish People’: Columbia University Student Who Called for Death of Zionists Files Lawsuit Against School

Khymani James, Columbia University student who filmed himself saying Zionists should be murdered. Photo: Screenshot

Columbia University is being sued for discrimination by a student who it suspended for filming himself proclaim that Zionists should be murdered and are fortunate that he has not begun killing them himself.

The student, Khymani James, has alleged that the suspension — prompted by the incident and other misconduct charges Columbia filed against him for participating in an illegal pro-Hamas encampment — was racist and aimed at “privileging a subset of Jewish people.”

At the time, James’ denigration of Jews received national media coverage and reinforced a perception that anti-Zionist protesters at Columbia University have been motivated by antisemitism. His lawyers said that negative publicity and racial animus, rather than any clear violation of school rules, caused administrators to levy the suspension, noting that it came nearly five months after the precipitating incident.

“First, James as a person of color is squarely within a protected class of black and brown-skinned students who have been the major targets of Columbia’s disciplinary actions arising from pro-Palestinian expression,” said a copy of the suit obtained by The Algemeiner. “Secondly, James has been a victim of Columbia’s anti-Palestinian bias, severely punished, though not himself a Palestinian, as a supporter of the rights of Palestinian people. Third, James has been a victim of reverse discrimination, as Columbia privileges a class of self-described ‘Zionist Jewish’ people over everyone on campus who does not share their views.”

The suit charged twice that Columbia University favored Jews over “nonJews” [sic], continuing James’ pattern of promoting antisemitic tropes, and portrayed him as a victim.

It continued, “The environment at Columbia, which has been rendered hostile for James, is sufficiently severe, pervasive, persistent, and offensive such that it deprives James of equal access to the opportunities and benefits that Columbia provides to other students.”

Earlier this week, James tied the announcement of the lawsuit to a series of bizarre tweets in which he discussed being criticized for “nine month old tea” and accused Columbia of “cowering to billionaire donors and fascists politicians.” In another post, he was photographed riding a water ski and making an obscene hand gesture.

Columbia University, which has declined to publicly comment on James’ suit, has been sued several times within the last year, the consequence of actions it did and did not take during an explosion of antisemitic protests on the campus that followed Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.

In June, it settled a lawsuit in which it was accused by a student of neglecting its obligation to foster a safe learning environment amid riotous pro-Hamas protests that were held at the school throughout the final weeks of the academic year.

The resolution of the case, first reported by Reuters, required that Columbia hire a “Safe Passage Liaison” to monitor protests and “walking escorts” who will accompany Jewish students whose safety is threatened around the campus. Other details of the settlement included “accommodations” for students whose academic lives are disrupted by protests and new security policies for controlling access to school property.

Filed in April, when anti-Zionist students first erected and began living in a pro-Hamas encampment on the campus’ South Lawn, the complaint painted a damning portrait of Columbia’s handling of a situation that quickly set off a conflagration in which Jewish students were physically and verbally assaulted, outsiders infiltrated the campus, and protesters cheered terrorism while destroying school property.

Another suit, filed in the US District Court of Southern New York in February by the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice (SCLJ), alleged that administrators stood b y while Jewish students endured various forms of abuse after Oct. 7.

“F—k the Jews,” “Death to Jews,” “Jews will not defeat us,” and “From water to water, Palestine will be Arab” were among the chants shouted by students on campus grounds after the tragedy, violating the school’s code of conduct and never facing consequences, the complaint said. Faculty engaged in similar behavior. On Oct. 8, professor Joseph Massad published in Electronic Intifada an essay cheering Hamas’ atrocities, which included slaughtering children and raping women, as “awesome” and describing men who paraglided into a music festival to kill young people as “the air force of the Palestinian resistance.”

The complaint went on to allege that after bullying Jewish students and rubbing their noses in the carnage Hamas wrought on their people, pro-Hamas students were still unsatisfied and resulted to violence. They beat up five Jewish students in Columbia’s Butler Library. Another attacked a Jewish students with a stick, lacerating his head and breaking his finger, after being asked to return missing persons posters she had stolen.

The New York branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is also suing Columbia University because it suspended an anti-Zionist student group, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), whose members allegedly perpetrated numerous antisemitic incidents reported by Jewish students. Filed in March, it described the members of SJP, an organization linked to Islamist terrorist organizations, as peaceful advocates of social justice.

“These student groups were peacefully speaking out on a critical global conflict, only to have Columbia University ignore their own longstanding, existing rules and abruptly suspend the organizations,” Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement announcing the action. “That’s retaliatory, it’s targeted, and it flies in the face of the free speech principles that institutes of higher learning should be defending.”

The succession of scandals, litigation, and congressional investigations led to the resignation of president Minouche Shafik, who directly cited the post-Oct. 7 campus environment as her reason for leaving office.

“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community,” Shafik said in a statement issued just days away from the beginning of fall term. “Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead. I am making this announcement now so that new leadership can be in place before the new terms begins.”

On Tuesday, a Jewish civil rights advocacy group, Documenting Jewish Hatred (DJH), told The Algemeiner that this latest suit “has no merit.”

“Khymani James was disciplined for repeatedly violating multiple Columbia University Rules of Conduct,” it said.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post ‘Subset of Jewish People’: Columbia University Student Who Called for Death of Zionists Files Lawsuit Against School first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.

Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.

The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.

Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.

Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.

The post Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel

People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.

At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.

Mass prayers were later held in the square.

State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.

In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.

“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.

There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.

Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.

Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

TRUMP THREAT

Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.

Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.

Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.

A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.

According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.

Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.

Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.

The post Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival

Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

i24 NewsChants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.

One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.

This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.

The post Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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