Columbia University activist Khymani James blamed “far-right agitators” in defense of a controversial video in which he called for the death of Zionists.
On Thursday, the Daily Wire published a video of clips taken from a livestream from James, which showed his interactions with student authorities over his statements and actions made during previous advocacy. Explaining himself to the student representatives, and in his comments afterward, he floated the idea of killing Zionists, comparing them to the Nazis and saying the world would be better off without them.
Following outcry over the remarks, he issued a statement and blamed his comments on “far-right agitators.”
James said he had “regret” for the remarks and that what he said was “wrong,” but the activist and one of the leaders of the protesters at Columbia demanding the university to divest from businesses that support Israel did not apologize for his comments.
“On Thursday, a video of me taken back in January began to circulate online,” James wrote. “What I said was wrong. Every member of our community deserves to feel safe without qualification.”
“I also want people to have more context for my words, which I regret,” he said. “Far right agitators went through months of my social media feed until they found a clip that they edited without context. When I recorded it, I had been feeling unusually upset after an online mob targeted me because I am visibly queer and Black.”
He attempted to distance his remarks from Columbia University and the protest movement and said he was “frustrated” that his comments had “become a distraction from the movement of Palestinian liberation.”
However, he maintained that Zionism was a genocidal ideology bent on the destruction of the Palestinian people.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Columbia University for comment.
The remarks that prompted the apology were made in January, but they were rediscovered by the Daily Wire on Thursday. He began by saying that Zionists were trying to fight him and that he would fight to completion.
“Zionists in my DMs wanting to meet up and fight,” he said. “I don’t fight to injure or for there to be a winner or loser. I fight to kill. See y’all in New York in January 2024.”
After receiving pushback, he defended himself by saying that the world would be a better place if some people were to die, such as when Adolf Hitler died.
“I think that taking someone’s life, in certain case scenarios, is necessary and better for the overall world,” James told the representatives on the call.
After the representatives ended the call, he went on an extended series of remarks during which he outlined why Zionists should die.
“If we can agree as a society, as a collective, that people, that persons, some persons need to die if they have an ideology that that results in the death of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions — if there are people like that who exist, shouldn’t they die?” James said. “Why would we want people who are supporters of genocide to live? I’m confused! Zionists, along with all white supremacists, needs to not exist because they actively kill and harm vulnerable people.”
He then said that everyone should be glad that he wasn’t going out and killing all Zionists.
“The same way we’re very comfortable accepting that Nazis don’t deserve to live, fascists don’t deserve to live, racists don’t deserve to live: Zionists, they shouldn’t live in this world,” James said. “And then when I see and if we’re truly living life and living in this world in order to achieve peace, the existence of Nazis, white supremacists, Zionists — these are all the same people. The existence of them, and the projects they have built, i.e., Israel, it’s all antithetical to peace. It’s all antithetical to peace. And so, yes, I feel very comfortable, very comfortable, calling for those people to die.”
James emerged as a central leader of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, which have garnered controversy for the extreme statements by many of its participants.
A video showed James appearing to lead a human wall of protesters in trying to push a group of students out of the tent camp.
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A video published on Friday showed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) meeting with the protesters at Columbia University in a friendly manner. One of the students she met with was James.
Zionism refers to the political movement, originating in the 19th century, advocating a homeland for the Jewish people. Several areas, including Madagascar, were considered until the decision was made to establish a Jewish state in Israel. The British government gave the movement a major boost in 1917 when Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration, pledging to support a Jewish homeland in what was then Palestine, a region in the Ottoman Empire. Following the Holocaust, the movement received a major boost from the Soviet Union and the United States, resulting in the modern state of Israel being established in 1948.