A Jewish Columbia University professor who has been a vocal critic of the administration’s response to the ongoing anti-Israel student protests on Monday said he was barred from its main campus.
Israeli-born Shai Davidai, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School and an outspoken supporter of the Jewish state, said when he swiped his key card at the school’s Morningside Heights campus it read “deactivated,” prompting a crowd of pro-Israel protesters to shout “Let him in!” and “Shame!”
“They are not letting me on main campus,” he told a crowd of pro-Israel rallies at the school’s gate.
The professor said he was told by Columbia Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway, “You are not allowed on campus because we cannot ensure your safety.”
Davidai, however, noted the “irony” that his card still grants him access to the university’s Manhattanville campus further uptown on West 130th Street, where he teaches at the business school.
“I was just told by [Holloway] that I am [to be] let on the campus of the business school where I’m teaching tomorrow,” he said.
“So they are willing to use Jewish brains, but they don’t want to let Jewish people in.”
Davidai, however, pointed out that the administration has continued to protect the safety of the anti-Israel protesters.
“We know whose safety they can ensure — for the past five days, they’ve been ensuring the safety of the students who are calling on Hamas, to target Jewish students. That’s the safety that they are ensuring,” he said.
He encouraged other pro-Israel supporters to exercise caution as they encounter the protests.
“I ask of you, if you have a Columbia ID, please go in, take videos — do not engage. If they don’t let you in, and then document the fact that they’re not letting other Jewish people into campus,” he added.
Davidai’s ban from the main campus comes as in-person classes at the prestigious Ivy League university were canceled Monday ahead of the start of Passover as anti-Israel protests roil on at the college.
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Davidai’s ban from the main campus comes as in-person classes at the prestigious Ivy League university were canceled Monday ahead of the start of Passover as anti-Israel protests roil on at the college.
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Embattled President Minouche Shafik, who has vowed to crack down on antisemitism, told students in an email that was also shared to the Ivy League college’s website that they “need a reset” as the heated demonstrations enter the sixth day.
“I am deeply saddened by what is happening on our campus. Our bonds as a community have been severely tested in ways that will take a great deal of time and effort to reaffirm,” Shafik wrote.
“Students across an array of communities have conveyed fears for their safety and we have announced additional actions we are taking to address security concerns.”
Those fears, expressed by many Jewish students, were also addressed on Sunday by a prominent rabbi at the school, who urged Columbia and Barnard students to go home — and stay there until conflicts on campus dissipate.