We, the Columbia Faculty and Staff Supporting Israel, declare that we will take back our university to make it an affirming, inclusive, and equal place for Jews, Israelis, and Zionists.
Read our full statement:
#ColumbiaUniversity
#Columbiaprotests
We were proud to join tens of thousands of people yesterday at the
@CelebrateIsrael
parade, including our colleagues at
@TheAENetwork
and students in
@SSIcolumbia
, to show the world that we stand strongly with Israel and to proclaim one clear message:
#bringthemhomenow
Watch the unsettling muting of a
@Columbia
prof at an official university senate meeting for raising concerns about the security of Jewish students and faculty amid the possible presence of people with ties to terrorists. Unjust silencing will not be tolerated.
Today our
@Columbia
faculty and staff had the honor of meeting with Ilay David, brother of Evyatar David, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for 293 days. The pain that these family members experience every day is unimaginable.
@bringhomenow
Congratulations to
@katrinarmstrong
on assuming the role of Interim
@Columbia
University President. We wish you much success in your role and hope to see you lead the institution with moral courage, including enforcement of all university policies.
.
@HebrewU
history prof. Jonathan Dekel-Chen spoke at
@ColumbiaIIJS
today. He poignantly shared the story of his son Sagui who was taken hostage from Nir Oz on Oct 7, and Nir Oz’s story. He challenged us to reach out to someone w/ whom we disagree to work toward a better tomorrow.
The
@Columbia
faculty and staff delegation visited the site of the Nova Music Festival, where 364 people were murdered and over 40 were kidnapped. It is impossible to grasp the scale of this massacre.
@cbhillel
@brcohen
@CU_JewishAlumni
@UJAfedNY
Today, on Yom HaZikaron, Israel's Memorial Day, we pause to mourn and remember the sacrifices of too many for the state of Israel to exist and continue to exist. Join us to remember them tonight at 6 pm at
@cbhillel
NEW: In leaked text messages obtained by the Free Beacon, top Columbia administrators—including the dean of the college—mocked and dismissed concerns about anti-Semitism on campus and even used vomit emojis to refer to a Columbia rabbi’s op-ed.
Scoop w/
@elianayjohnson
.🧵
Law prof
@profmitts
speaks out on the “poorly researched”
@Columbia
Law Review article that excluded a large group of Jewish students “from the deliberative process”
אחרי שבועות מתוחים באוניברסיטת קולומביה ולאחר שבוטל הטקס הגדול, הסטודנטים הישראלים שסיימו את לימודיהם הגיעו אתמול לטקסי הסיום עם סרטים עם סמל החטופים והכיתוב: Bring Them Home
@KerenB_News
“
@Columbia
faculty members were enmeshed in the student protest encampments. The people…hired to educate and inspire all students – sanctioned discriminatory access to the lawn and seemingly endorsed pro-genocide rhetoric.”
@jessicaschwalb7
@LishiBaker
Read this important opinion piece by
@Columbia
Jewish nursing student Michael Gross. "Will the antisemitism at Columbia University ever end? I believe the only way to get meaningful change is to sue my school."
Will the antisemitism at Columbia University ever end? As a Jewish nursing student who’s seen the hate every day since Oct. 7, I believe the only way to get meaningful change is to sue my school, writes Michael Gross
“We have disciplinary cases still in progress from the spring, and it’s really important that the university move ahead with those, for people who deserve serious consequences — including suspension or even expulsion” -
@Columbia
law prof David Schizer
Since October 7, Columbia has been hit with lawsuits accusing them of failing to address the resulting surge in antisemitism, but a new complaint employs a little-used, 19th-century law: The Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. |
@zach_kessel
Many thanks to Dr.
@CochavElkayam
, Founder of
@DvoraInstitute
& Chair of the Civil Commission on Oct. 7th Crimes by Hamas Against Women & Children, for sharing details of her crucial & unprecedented work with the
@Columbia
faculty & staff delegation to Israel
@cbhillel
@brcohen
Red paint is splattered across
@Columbia
COO Cas Holloway’s apartment. They’ve spray painted a red triangle, smashed his front door, and released crickets. Their letter notes, “Since you became the Chief Operating Officer of Columbia University on January 30, 2024, you have done
Our
@Columbia
faculty and staff delegation to Israel is having a meaningful trip filled with impactful conversation around international academia, interfaith dialogue and hope for the future.
@cbhillel
This inaccurate, antisemitic portrayal of the map of Israel has been up on the official
@BarnardCollege
account for nearly 48 hours. Where is the leadership of this institution?
@preslrosenbury
@rlwalkowitz
With the fall semester quickly approaching,
@Columbia
students and faculty worry about the impact of DA Alvin Bragg’s “free pass to those who violently and systematically bring chaos to our streets and our campus under the cover of a mask.”
@edenyadegar
“We are returning to our campus with a determination to embrace our identities as Jews or allies of the Jewish people…We feel empowered.” Read about our
@Columbia
faculty & staff trip to Israel.
via
@JewishChron
Many thanks to
@TelAvivUni
President Prof. Ariel Porat, Vice President for International Academic Collaborations Prof.
@MiletteShamir
, Diversity Officer in the Equity, Diversity and Community Office Ms. Camellia Darawsha, & Prof. Dina Porat for hosting the
@Columbia
delegation!
Prof. Assaf Zeevi of
@Columbia_Biz
is worried abt
@Columbia
’s “negotiating, or mediating, w/ the leaders of the student organizations that repeatedly broke university rules…Negotiating with the students rather than enforcing the rules will likely result in similar behaviors.”
Ran Kivetz, a
@Columbia
Business School prof “who has been outspoken about antisemitism on campus, said that if protesters follow through on their threats to skip school, they should know ‘there are ramifications.’ If the students don’t show up for class, ‘they will fail.’”
NEW in
@TheFP
— After the encampment strategy ‘did not win' last spring, young socialists are adopting a new protest strategy for the fall: skipping class.
NYU just set the bar by declaring that discrimination against Zionists isn't protected. It's a pivotal move for campus safety, especially for Jewish students. UCLA should take note and implement similar protections against anti-Zionism, the new antisemitism. This isn't
Watch
@JoshuaMitts
,
@ColumbiaLaw
prof: "When you have a small group...committed to destroying property & shutting down campus life, that is the moment that we, the faculty, need to...say ‘it's time to restore order.’"
#columbiaprotests
We congratulate the first class of
@TelAvivUni
@ColumbiaGS
dual degree students, along with all graduating
@ColumbiaGS
students. Many dual degree students have “taken more of an active role” in pro-Israel activities on campus, as Inbar Brand shared:
🛑 It's called "Equal Protection," folks! Today's court ruling reveals a shocking truth: Jewish students at UCLA were excluded from certain areas because they wouldn't denounce their faith. 😮 UCLA admitted this but claimed it wasn’t their job to step in. The court says
“I won’t be surprised if things are just as bad when the semester starts,” said
@Columbia
prof Cliff Stein. “This is extremely upsetting…. I’m seeing [antisemitism] on my own campus, in the world I inhabit, and I spend a lot of time worrying about it.”
Read this important op-ed from the
@Columbia
Antisemitism Task Force, "We Hear You." "Our university should make it clear that it hears and understands these feelings and plans to do something to improve these students’ lives."
.
@ColumbiaSpec
op-ed from the Columbia Antisemitism Task Force assesses antisemitism on campus and calls
@Columbia
to “make it clear that it hears and understands these feelings and plans to do something to improve these students’ lives.”
'Freshman fear': How Antisemitism tainted my first year at Columbia University. 'I am deeply disappointed in my school’s failure to protect me, but I am even more disappointed in my peers for refusing to remove antisemitic rhetoric from their movement.'
Hear from Noa Fay, one of the 2024 AJC Sharon Greene Award recipients for Campus Advocacy, as she shares how anti-Israel protests on her campus led her to become a stronger and prouder Jewish leader.
#AJCGloFo
Join us on Monday, 5/6 at 6:30pm at 115th and Riverside to commemorate Yom HaShoah. Showing up has never been more important than right now
#NeverAgainIsNow
#CampusesAgainstHate
For months, fellow students have denied our lived experience. As we wrap up a semester of violence and antisemitism, we, the Jewish students at Columbia University who ARE deeply connected to our People and culture, would like to speak in our name.
Please take a moment to read
It is very concerning how such resolutions are presented to the faculty and administration as the overwhelming grad student sentiment while they are based on votes by ~5% of the graduate students. Terribly misleading.
The graduate student union of
@Columbia
has stated that it is going to incorporate “cops off campus” and BDS as demands for its 2025 contract. These new requirements are a result of two resolutions that passed the 50% threshold in votes last month.
Looking under the hood, the
Join
@profmitts
of
@ColumbiaLaw
and Akiva Shapiro of the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists tomorrow (Tues) at 2 pm for a conversation on "Columbia in Crisis." Email alyssa.grzesh
@aajlj
.org to register.
Join us to commemorate Yom HaShoah on Monday 5/6 @ 2pm EST to show our strength, unity & resilience. 1. Read the names of the 132 hostages 2. Blow a shofar 3. Observe 2 mins of silence to remember those who perished in the Shoah, 4. Sing Hatikvah. Tag photos
#CampusesAgainstHate
So wonderfully heartwarming to see our
@Columbia
faculty and staff hard at work packing food boxes for diverse groups of people in West and East Jerusalem with
@Yahel_Israel
Spent the afternoon packing food boxes for people in both West and East Jerusalem with
@Yahel_Israel
. We worked with Mahmood and Drori, who have been working together for 10 years, bringing food, reducing fear. First you do, then you hear. This is a
#sharedsociety
@columbiafsi
Its been a hard year for Jewish students on American university campuses., but for
#Israelis
studying there its been even harder... how will this impact the academic relationship between Israel and the U.S. in the future?
#Read
my latest for
@J_Insider
“Typically we think of this as kind of an academic freedom issue, but excluding around the article is not a matter of academic freedom,"
@profmitts
said. "They prevented a supermajority of members from even knowing about the article's existence—prevented them from commenting
The whitewashing of pro-Hamas encampments is gaslighting at its worst.
Since when does a “peaceful protest” resort to violence and vandalism.
Since when does an “anti-war protest” demands war on the very existence of a nation state, let alone the world’s ONLY Jewish State.
Please share this letter written by our incredible
@Columbia
students. We are so proud of their eloquence, resilience and commitment to the Jewish people. There is still hope for the future.
.
@Columbia
law prof and antisemitism task force member
@mattwaxman1
is concerned about the fall:
“I’m disturbed at, what seems to me, is a lack of urgency,” Waxman said.
🙌 500+ faculty members are using, wearing, and hanging FAAM swag. Are you one of them? Show us! Email a photo of you with your favorite FAAM item to info
@FacultyAgainstAntisemitism
.org.
Reflections on the sudden change in leadership
@Columbia
by law prof
@mattwaxman1
: “University leadership has been promising that combating antisemitism is a priority, but…I don’t have confidence that the campus situation this fall is going to look any different”
WATCH as
@briebriejoy
twists the words and bullies a Jewish student
@columbia
.
@briebriejoy
then denies what the Jewish student is saying to such an extent that her co-anchor has to interject to correct her misstatements
"The ideological regime of antisemitism that has entrenched itself in America’s universities will only collapse when enough Jews stop being afraid and stop unwillingly aiding it by hiding and self-censoring." Thank you
@NatanSharansky
We cannot believe that
@Columbia
is canceling Commencement this year and moving Class Days to Baker Field. What a disappointment for all the students and their families.
BREAKING: Columbia Commencement ceremonies, initially scheduled for May 15, have been canceled, and Class Days will take place at the Baker Athletics Complex and other off-campus locations, according to a Monday announcement.
.
@gil_zussman
also hopes the antisemitism task force’s recommendations on demonstrations 'will be fully adopted and the university policies and rules will be enforced.'”
.
@gil_zussman
chair of the electrical engineering dept
@CUSEAS
& member of the Antisemitism Task Force, is "optimistic about the change in leadership at Columbia and hopes that 'the campus environment will be once again welcoming to all students, staff, and faculty.'"
Columbia faculty expressed shock, frustration, and hope on Thursday following Minouche Shafik’s resignation from the presidency and Katrina Armstrong’s appointment as interim president.
4,000+
@Columbia
affiliates signed a letter to Pres Shafik supporting “campus safety and academic freedom” with a link to “Sidechat screenshots with people asking how to join the encampments on campus and discussions of Zionism.” Original letter:
As demonstrations erupted at Columbia, NYU, Yale, Princeton, the University of Texas, and elsewhere, students took to Sidechat anonymous social media app to share memes and express dismay at their administrators’ responses.
More on Sidechat:
Zussman also hopes the antisemitism task force’s recommendations on demonstrations 'will be fully adopted and the university policies and rules will be enforced.'”
or vetoing or raising concerns. And that group certainly includes a large number of Jewish students. And that's deeply concerning."
"That's ultimately what concerned the board, because this just wasn't proper process. It wasn't proper governance.”
.
@ColumbiaSIPA
Prof. Ester Fuchs, co-Chair of the
@columbia
Antisemitism Task Force, met with the President of Israel
@Isaac_Herzog
& Leah Goldin to discuss antisemitism at Columbia and in US campuses.
.
@Columbia
students react to deans' removal over antisemitic text messages: "This is a good first step," said
@LishiBaker
. "Even though it's a month late, they are addressing the issue.
@Etanetan23
Thanks to Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman, President, Shalom Hartman Institute, and Rana Fahoum, Director of the Center for Shared Society
@Hartman_Inst
, for hosting the
@Columbia
faculty and staff delegation
More from three of the authors of the open letter “In Our Name: A Message from Jewish Students at Columbia University.”
Where is Columbia today, and where do we go from here? It starts with accountability.
Read our latest
@LishiBaker
@Eliana_Goldin
I found this statement, In Our Name, by the Columbia University Jewish student community compelling. With the details changed it speaks for what I know are the views and values of Harvard's Jewish community and the Jewish communities at many other universities.
Who’s surprised? A top U.S. intelligence official revealed that the Iranian government is providing financial support for the anti-Israel demonstrations that have terrorized American college campuses.
RAYS OF HOPE: A group of non-Jewish Columbia alumni raised close to $10K in just ONE DAY on FB for Columbia/Barnard Hillel this week.
This reflects the moral clarity and authentic spirit of inclusion that once defined our school - and which we fully intend to restore
@cbhillel
I was proud and humbled to share the harrowing experiences of Jewish students and faculty at the
@UofCalifornia
since October 7. With help from Congress, we can continue to be a beacon in the darkness. Let there be light!
Let’s
#UnMaskHate
. Today, a diverse coalition of civil rights & faith leaders joined lawmakers to launch a campaign to protect Jews & marginalized communities from those using face coverings to terrorize with impunity. Join us in the fight for safety:
Columbia University Professors Awi Federgruen and Ran Kivetz presented research to Post demonstrating that sufficient food supplies are reaching Gaza, challenging the narrative that Israel is responsible for famine in the region.
✍🏽
@sfrantzman
We applaud our colleagues
@bstockwell
and Andreas Wimmer for demonstrating what a well reasoned, respectful debate between people with different views can look like
I wrote for
@TheAtlantic
about my experience as a Jew and Israeli on
@Columbia
's campus.
"More people, including faculty and students, should speak out against hateful rhetoric that is morally wrong, even if it's protected by the First Amendment".