Columbia University president Minouse Shafik refused to tell lawmakers Wednesday whether “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” counts as an antisemitic phrase — instead only calling it “hurtful” and adding that she would “prefer” not to hear it around the Ivy League campus.
In a press conference before the hearing, student Eden Yadegar declared that “the Jewish community at Columbia is alone.”
Yadegar recounted incidents of Jewish students having Star of David necklaces ripped off their bodies and hearing shouts of “F–k the Jews” in kosher sections of the dining halls on campus.
“They have failed their Jewish students,” she said of university administrators, pointing particularly to demonstrations that have praised even designated foreign terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.
“Freedom of speech does not include freedom to harass,” Yadegar said. “It is a fundamental attack on Columbia’s values and America’s values.”
“Contrary to the depiction we have seen on social media,” Shafik had said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed before the hearing, “most of the people protesting do so from a place of genuine political disagreement, not from personal hatred or bias or support for terrorism.”
The hearing began hours after Columbia students launched a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the lawn in the main square of campus.
Read more at https://nypost.com/2024/04/17/us-news/columbia-university-accused-of-gross-negligence-in-response-to-antisemitism-on-campus/
#columbiauniversity #hearing #israel #hamas #palestine
The New York Post is your source for breaking news, news about New York, sports, business, entertainment, opinion, real estate, culture, fashion, and more.
Subscribe to New York Post Sports: https://www.youtube.com/c/nypostsports
Catch the latest news here: https://nypost.com/
Follow The New York Post on:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/nypost
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NYPost