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What Happens Next at Columbia Matters Everywhere
A pro-Hamas demonstrator uses a bullhorn during a protest at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) on March 11, 2025. Photo: Daniel Cole via Reuters Connect.
From Upper Manhattan to Antwerp, the world is watching what happens at Columbia University. The lesson will be simple: when Jews are targeted, do elite universities face real consequences — or just wait out the headlines and move on?
That’s why the Trump administration’s decision to freeze Columbia’s Federal funding was so significant. It wasn’t just bold — it was a necessary declaration that the civil rights of Jewish students matter. But with a deal now in place, the real test is whether that moment of strength leads to meaningful reform — or something far more forgettable.
New reporting now shows that Columbia has issued sweeping disciplinary measures for the Butler Library takeover and earlier protests. Students have reportedly been suspended for multiple years, expelled, and in some cases even had their degrees revoked. That is real, and welcome — and it speaks to what pressure can achieve when applied seriously.
But even this action underscores the broader point: Columbia’s most serious reforms have come not from internal will, but external scrutiny. These punishments address incidents — not institutions. They correct specific moments of lawlessness, but do not transform the disciplinary and governance systems that failed in the first place.
Columbia’s recent public statements have emphasized symbolic steps — “incorporating” the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, launching antisemitism training, and reporting on Title VI complaints. These are fine, but without structural changes behind them, they amount to little more than window dressing.
The most important step so far — removing disciplinary oversight from the University Senate — came only after sustained pressure, and still leaves unanswered questions about implementation, consistency, and faculty involvement. The US Department of Justice’s monitoring role, as described in press reports, may amount to little more than checking boxes — calling balls and strikes on future incidents rather than compelling broader accountability.
There is still no binding requirement that Columbia address faculty members who have trafficked in antisemitic rhetoric, nor a durable mechanism to prevent the re-empowerment of campus factions that turned a blind eye to intimidation and disruption. The recent punishments show that enforcement is possible. But that makes the absence of structural guarantees all the more conspicuous — and risky.
This matters far beyond New York. Universities in Europe and beyond — many of which face even greater risks of political violence — are watching. They are watching not only to see if Columbia’s leadership will hold, but whether the United States government is willing to insist on something more than temporary optics.
A weak deal that doesn’t last at Columbia will be read globally as a signal that American scrutiny is loud but fleeting — and that institutions that tolerate antisemitic intimidation can outlast their critics. A strong deal that holds, by contrast, would establish a precedent for real accountability: one that affirms that the civil rights of Jewish students are non-negotiable and that Title VI enforcement has lasting teeth.
The administration has already proven it is willing to act. The funding freeze was a game-changer. The next step is ensuring that this power — and this precedent — aren’t traded away for incrementalism dressed up as progress. Justice cannot hinge on whether the news cycle is still paying attention.
The students who stormed Butler Library will face consequences. That’s a start. But the question is whether future students — at Columbia or anywhere else — will be deterred by a clear system of rules, or emboldened by the knowledge that institutional memory fades fast.
That’s why the deal matters. Not because of the money, but because of what it says about what the government expects — and what universities can get away with. This administration took the right step. Now it must follow through. What happens next at Columbia still matters.
J. Philip Rosen is chairman of the World Jewish Congress, American section. He has been a Jewish activist for most of his life and is currently a Board member of Yeshiva University and JINSA, and is Vice-Chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
The post What Happens Next at Columbia Matters Everywhere 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.