A feuding coalition of Democratic and Republican lawmakers visited Columbia University to condemn reprehensible anti-Semitic and pro-Palestinian protests and demand the immediate resignation of the university’s president.
Demonstrations have continued since last Wednesday and have included outbreaks of violence and arrests, including the detention of the daughter of progressive ‘Squad’ member Ilhan Omar.
Jewish Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., Dan Golden, D-N.Y., Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Kathy Manning, D-N.C., headed to the Ivy League university Monday after days of vicious fighting against Israel protests.
“I should be with my family today for Passover,” Moskowitz wrote on [Columbia] The university supports Jewish students who are being harassed on its campus.’
“To the president of Columbia, DO NOT make the same decision as the presidents of UPenn and Harvard,” his post continued. ‘Protect your students.’
New York Republican Reps. Anthony D’Esposito and Mike Lawler also spoke at an off-campus event at Columbia.
Columbia University Students Wave Palestinian Flags as Protests Overtake Campus
Lawler told a crowd near the Columbia University campus on Monday that President Nemat ‘Minouche’ Shafik must ‘resign in disgrace.’
‘The quickest way to achieve a ceasefire is to release the hostages. Why don’t these people ask for that? The Palestinian people should be free; Their oppressors are Hamas,” he stated at the event.
“People here in Columbia should resign,” Lawler added.
D’Esposito also condemned the university, saying it should not receive federal funds if students are in danger.
“If you can’t control what’s happening at your university, if the president of this university fails to keep students safe, then she should not be eligible for any federal aid coming into this university.”
The two Republicans also took note of a letter they co-signed on Monday along with all other Republican members of the New York delegation.
The letter, organized by Republican Conference President Elise Stefanik, R.N.Y., requested that Shafik resign immediately for failing to crack down on “a large, unauthorized anti-Semitic riot,” according to a copy obtained by DailyMail.com.
The lawmakers’ trip to Columbia came on the same day that Shai Davidai, a Jewish Columbia professor, was banned from campus because the school couldn’t keep him safe.
‘The present day, [Columbia] The university refused to let me on campus. Because? Because they can’t protect my safety as a Jewish teacher. We are in 1938”, he published in X.
Last week, the NYPD broke up an encampment at the university on Thursday and arrested more than 100 protesters.
Tensions had been at a boiling point since protesters pitched tents on the university’s south lawn early last Wednesday, and several fights broke out when they were met by pro-Israel counterprotesters.
For the fifth day, pro-Palestinian students occupied a central lawn on the Columbia University campus.
Dozens of New York Police Department officers have entered the so-called ‘Gaza solidarity camp’.
The protests that began on the Columbia University campus have since spread to other schools.
Pro-Israel protesters have held demonstrations in response to the current anti-Israel protests.
So far, more than a hundred students have been charged, mostly with trespassing, while some received additional charges for resisting arrest and obstructing government administration.
Many protest participants have produced signs and chants that directly ridicule Israel for its ongoing war with Hamas after the terrorist group launched a surprise massacre in the Jewish country on October 7, 2023.
“Protesters on campus are attacking Jewish students,” Gottheimer posted on Sunday X.
“On top of that, they echo the rhetoric of Hamas terrorists, who carried out the worst attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
“Columbia must end these hateful protests and protect students,” he continued.
Goldman has also condemned the situation as “unacceptable.”
‘The situation in Colombia [University] “It’s unacceptable,” he wrote on X.
“While everyone has a First Amendment right to protest, students do not have the right to threaten violence and cause fear within the Jewish community on campus.”
He said the university and the NYPD “must ensure a safe environment for all students.”
Moskowitz condemned protests in Columbia, including ‘chants for more war’
Pro-Palestinian protesters resume demonstrations at Columbia University on the fifth day of the ‘Gaza Solidarity Camp’ despite Columbia University previously urging authorities to arrest more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters.
Republican Mike Lawler posted on X: “If our colleges and universities cannot step up to ensure the safety of their students, we will intervene.”
He wrote that he was “in Columbia to support Jewish students and condemn the anti-Semitic hatred allowed on campus.”
The protests have become so virulent that countless Democratic leaders have condemned them.
“Students have the right to free speech, but they do not have the right to violate university policies and disrupt on-campus learning,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Sunday night.
“I am horrified and disgusted by the anti-Semitism that is spreading on and around Columbia University’s campus.”
“Hate has no place in our city and I have directed the NYPD to investigate any violation of the law they receive a report about and will arrest anyone who breaks the law,” Adams continued.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he was “disgusted” by the anti-Semitism on display at Columbia University over the past week.
The White House also spoke out against the anti-Israel demonstrations.
“While every American has the right to peaceful protection, calls for violence and physical intimidation against Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly anti-Semitic, unconscionable, and dangerous; they have absolutely no place on any college campus or anywhere of the United States of America,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement.