Columbia University’s School of Social Work (CSSW) shut down an event scheduled for Wednesday afternoon justifying Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel in which the terrorist organization slaughtered and brutalized innocents as a “Palestinian counteroffensive.” Students in the group that planned the event, Columbia Social Workers 4 Palestine, went ahead with the “teach-in and discussion” anyway in a different location on campus.
In a video that has made the rounds on X, student activists can be heard praising Hamas’s massacres, rapes, and abductions of civilians on October 7 as a valiant act of resistance.
“On October 7, the Palestinian liberation fighters demonstrated their refusal to be dominated,” a woman speaking at the event said. “They showed the world that the Palestinian people will fight for freedom instead of quietly adapting to subjugation. They showed us that with creativity, determination, and combined strength the masses can accomplish great feats, a fact we have seen in every heroic struggle for liberation from Vietnam to Afghanistan. As Mao says, ‘dare to struggle, dare to win.'”
CCSW issued a message Wednesday indicating that the university is reviewing whether it will discipline the students involved:
A student-led event within the School of Social Work building proceeded without permission, after being canceled. We communicated to the student organizers that this event could not be held at the school because they did not follow protocol. As a result, we prevented access to the classroom the students intended to use. Despite clear direction that the event was not permitted, a group of students moved to host the event in the public lobby of our school. School and University administrators informed the students of the possibility of disciplinary action and urged them to disperse, which they did. The matter is now under review under University procedures.
After its initial announcement that the event would not go forward as planned, CCSW dean Melissa Begg told National Review in a statement that its promotional materials had not been authorized in accordance with school policy.
“We learned late last night of a flier and accompanying text being circulated about a December 6th event at the Columbia School of Social Work (CSSW),” her statement read. “This is not a CSSW-sponsored event. The students who organized the event did not seek approval for the fliers and text as required by CSSW processes. CSSW supports free speech but does not condone language that promotes violence in any manner, which is antithetical to our values. This event will not go forward at CSSW.”