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US Lawmakers Demand Columbia Administrators Hand Over Texts Mocking Testimonies of 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
US lawmakers on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce have demanded that Columbia University administrators hand over text messages which purportedly mocked concerns over rising antisemitism on campus.
On May 31, Columbia held several panel discussions as alumni arrived at the New York City campus to celebrate their class reunions. One of the panels focused on Jewish life on campus, during which top Columbia administrators exchanged text messages belittling the testimonies of the speakers, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
While the event was underway, one administrator reportedly sent a vomit emoji in the group chat. Another stated that the testimonies were “difficult to listen to” but they were “trying to keep an open mind.” One message suggested that Jewish figures on campus were exploiting the moment for “fundraising potential.”
The leaked messages sparked outrage and circulated like wildfire on social media. After being made aware of the texts, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce this week demanded the university release the entirety of the exchanges. The committee has given the university a deadline of June 26 to comply with its demands.
“I was appalled, but sadly not surprised, to learn Columbia administrators exchanged disparaging text messages during a panel that discussed antisemitism at the university,” Rep. Virignia Foxx (R-NC), the committee’s chairwoman, said in a statement. “Dean Josef Sorrett’s weak private ‘apology’ to the College’s Board of Visitors shows that the school doesn’t get it. Columbia’s Jewish community deserves better than this. I have requested Columbia produce these administrators’ texts by June 26.”
Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish student at Harvard who has chronicled the surge of antisemitic campus incidents following the Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel, told The Algemeiner that he is not surprised that Columbia administrators mocked Jewish community members through texts.
“The story at Columbia simply reinforces what Jewish students across the country already know: we are treated categorically different than every other minority group,” Kestenbaum said.
The committee has been trying to hold Columbia University “accountable” for enabling an allegedly antisemitic environment on campus.
In February, Foxx sent Columbia a request to hand over documents related to its internal antisemitism investigation, citing “assaults, harassment, and vandalism” targeting Jewish students on campus. Later that same month, the chairwoman held a roundtable with Jewish students from multiple campuses — including Columbia — which were embroiled in high-profile antisemitism scandals.
In April, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce summoned Columbia President Minouche Shafik and other university leaders to attend a hearing on her administration’s alleged failure to address antisemitism, which prompted a congressional investigation
Later that month, Foxx accompanied House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to visit Columbia University as violent and disruptive encampments erected by pro-Hamas activists rocked their campus.
“I have a message. President Shafik, the inmates are running the asylum. Take back control of this once-great institution,” Foxx said.
The post US Lawmakers Demand Columbia Administrators Hand Over Texts Mocking Testimonies of Campus Antisemitism 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.