A group fighting antisemitism is demanding Columbia University banish Israel-bashing groups Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace once and for all.
Both groups have been temporarily suspended for spewing “threatening rhetoric and intimidation” but are said to still be organizing unauthorized demonstrations on campus.
A letter sent Wednesday to Columbia president Minouche Shafik by International Legal Forum read in part: “Especially after the devastating Congressional hearing last week on antisemitism by your colleagues from Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and MIT, Columbia ought to have understood there can be no equivocation or excuse for inaction, in the face of such calls for genocide?”
The blowback over the tone-deaf testimony had led to the resignation of Liz Magill as UPenn’s president.
On Dec. 11, the Columbia-affiliated Barnard College sent a notice to the community saying it had been made aware of an “unauthorized” Dec. 11 demonstration and was restricting entrance to the campus to those with Columbia University Identification Cards, according to International Legal Forum
“We wish to express our grave concerns over an unauthorized event held at Columbia University on December 11th, 2023, hosted by the groups ‘Students for Justice in Palestine’ (SJP) and ‘Jewish Voices for Peace’ (JVP), which included chants of Intifada, intifada, long live the intifada’ and From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,’” said the letter, by the group’s CEO, Arson Ostrovosky.
Ostrovosky explained the chants are not just a “difference in political opinion” but a “direct and unadulterated call for violence and genocide, directly placing Jewish students, faculty and staff, in harm’s way.”
“It is all the more despicable and sickening that these calls were made at Barnard College, whose primary mission is to empower young women, given all that we know about the horrific mass rape, sexual violence and mutilation of Israeli women and girls perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on 7th October,” he added.
The letter continued, “We call on Columbia University to issue an immediate and unequivocal condemnation of the 11th December event, and the calls for genocide that were expressed, as well as to ban these hate groups once and for all, including for violating the terms of their suspension.”
JVP advertised for the Dec. 11 event on its now-suspended Instagram page saying “@SJP.Columbia will join us to meditate on the parallels between the Hanukkah story and current events, the importance of grassroots activism, and the significance of solidarity in the face of oppression and suppression.”
The Dec. 11 rogue event was first reported by the Jewish Insider. Barnard’s senior vice president said in a notice blasted to students and faculty the protest was not authorized by the college.
A University spokeperson denied to The Post the event happened on campus, saying: “This was an unsanctioned protest by an unsanctioned group … incitement to violence against members of our community is abhorrent and will not be tolerated, something we have repeatedly made clear.
“We suspended these groups when they refused to follow the rules, despite multiple reminders and warnings about the consequences. While we will not comment on specific cases and disciplinary processes for individuals, we are enforcing the rules and policies that are in place to ensure safety and standards of behavior, a responsibility that we take extremely seriously.”
Columbia last month suspended Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace as official student groups through the end of the fall term for violating university policies.
The Columbia chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine celebrated the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel that killed 1,200 — including civilians, women and children — calling it “an unprecedented historic moment for the Palestinians of Gaza.”