Barnard College has expelled two students over a protest in which masked activists disrupted a class on modern Israel at Columbia University, passing out leaflets with antisemitic imagery and refusing repeated requests to leave.
The two Barnard seniors were part of the group that interrupted the first day of the History of Modern Israel class, according to Avi Shilon, the Columbia lecturer who teaches the course, confirming a Sunday report in the Jewish Insider.
Mr. Shilon said he began the class last month by informing students that they would study both the Israeli and Palestinian narratives of the 1948 Israeli-Arab War.
“At that exact moment, pro-Palestinian demonstrators burst into the classroom,” said Mr. Shilon in a Monday op-ed in The Forward.
“They brandished posters calling for the eradication of Zionism, and shouted various things about ‘genocide in Gaza,’” he said. “Now, two of those protesters, both seniors at Barnard College, have been expelled.”
A third student who attends Columbia was suspended and removed from campus pending the disciplinary process in connection with the Jan. 21 protest, according to a Monday statement by the university.
Barnard College President Laura Rosenbury declined to comment on the disciplinary action, citing federal law on student privacy, but emphasized that “Barnard will always take decisive action to protect our community as a place where learning thrives, individuals feel safe, and higher education is celebrated.”
Students at Barnard, a women’s college affiliated with Columbia, have access to Columbia courses and facilities.
“When rules are broken, when there is no remorse, no reflection, and no willingness to change, we must act,” Ms. Rosenbury said in a statement to the Columbia Spectator. “Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but so too is our commitment to respect, inclusion, and the integrity of the academic experience.”
During the protest, one activist read an anti-Israel harangue while others passed out at least two fliers. The first said “Crush Zionism” and showed a drawing of a boot stepping on the Star of David, an image credited to the “Palestinian Liberation Poster Project.”
The second showed an Israeli flag on fire with the caption, “Burn Zionism to the Ground,” as shown in a video posted online by Stop Antisemitism.
The expulsions are believed to be the first by Columbia or Barnard since pro-Palestinian unrest erupted on campus following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israeli civilians, which prompted Israel to declare war.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a pro-Palestinian group, vowed Monday to hold a “week of action demanding Barnard reinstate our students now,” including a Thursday “sickout and picket.”
“On February 21st, Barnard College expelled two students for their alleged involvement in the classroom disruption of ‘History of Modern Israel,’” said the group on Instagram.
The group accused Barnard of expelling the students “under pressure from zionist billionaires.”
“We reject Barnard’s attempts to intimidate us out of fighting against the zionist genocide of Palestine,” said the Instagram post. “We demand that Barnard reinstates our peers and we will not give up until they do so.”
Last weekend, the group posted a video clip of the January protest with the message, “We disrupted a zionist class, and you should too.”
Columbia disavowed the post, saying it was made by a group “not recognized, authorized or supported by the University.”
“We condemn this unacceptable call to disrupt our academic mission,” said the Monday statement. “Disruptions to our classrooms and efforts to intimidate or harass our students are not acceptable, are an affront to our University community, and will not be tolerated.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.