Jewish students at Columbia University in New York have been urged by a rabbi to go home as pro-Palestine protests escalated.

The warning by rabbi Elie Buechler came days after police in London threatened to arrest an “openly Jewish man” for walking in the heart of the city during a pro-Palestine protest.

Pro-Palestine protests have been sweeping across campuses in the US since the Israel-Gaza conflict erupted on October 7.

Rabbi Buechler, director of the Orthodox Jewish Learning Initiative, said the university and New York police could not guarantee students’ safety.

“It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved,” she said in a text message.

“It is not our job as Jews to ensure our own safety on campus. No one should have to endure this level of hatred, let alone at school.”

Another Jewish organisation on campus, Columbia University and Barnard College Hillel, advised students against going home but said more should be done by both the college authorities.

“This is a time of genuine discomfort and even fear for many of us on campus,” the Hillel said in a statement. “Columbia University and the City of New York must do more to protect students,” it said on Twitter.

“We call on the University Administration to act immediately in restoring calm to campus. The City must ensure that students can walk up and down Broadway and Amsterdam without fear of harassment.”

Other students described the warning by Rabbi Buechler as a smear.

“Columbia students organising in solidarity with Palestine – including Jewish students – have faced harassment, doxxing, and now arrest by the NYPD. These are the main threats to the safety of Jewish Columbia students,” Jonathan Ben-Menachem, a PhD student, told CNN.

Pro-Palestinian protests escalated at Columbia last week with the establishment of a Gaza solidarity encampment.

Leading universities have come under fire in the US over their response to the protests.

A university spokesperson said the safety of Columbia’s community is “our number one priority”.

The statement added: “We are acting on concerns we are hearing from our Jewish students and are providing additional support and resources to ensure that our community remains safe.”

A day after the Hamas attack, in which around 1,200 people were murdered, a coalition of 24 student groups at Harvard released an open letter blaming Israel for the attack and expressing no sympathy for the victims.

In December, the presidents of Harvard, UPenn and MIT - three of America’s most prestigious Ivy League universities - were shredded by Congress after refusing to say that calling for the genocide of Jews constituted harassment.