- Billionaire Robert Kraft, 82, attacked masked protesters at Columbia University
- He condemned the protest accompanied by physical violence as ‘cowardice’
- Anti-Israel protester caught on camera yelling “go back to Poland”
Billionaire Robert Kraft slammed protesters at Columbia University who chanted “go back to Poland” while hiding behind masks.
The 82-year-old Columbia student condemned the series of campus protests accompanied by physical violence as “cowardice” in an op-ed published in the New York Post.
‘I am a firm believer in freedom of expression. But “freedom of expression” is not asking for physical violence with your face hidden behind masks and coverings; “That’s cowardice,” he wrote.
The owner of the New England Patriots called on university leaders to “show courage and stop radical professors from poisoning young minds.”
Kraft’s op-ed comes just two days after he withdrew his financial support for the Ivy League school, saying he had lost confidence in the school’s ability to protect its students amid anti-Israel protests.
Billionaire Robert Kraft criticized protesters at Columbia University who chanted “go back to Poland” while hiding behind masks.
The 82-year-old Columbia student condemned the series of campus demonstrations accompanied by physical violence as “cowardice.”
The founder and CEO of the Kraft Group attended Columbia on a full academic scholarship and graduated in 1962.
When he enrolled at the Ivy League school, he was able to “learn from professors who encouraged students to cultivate independent thinking and the ability to critically engage with diverse points of view.”
But today, “students have been taught and empowered by professors more focused on politics than education,” he wrote.
‘Signs at Columbia University read ‘Return to Poland,’ calling on the Jewish community to return to the horrible death camps of the Holocaust. They sing ‘Kill all the Jews’ and ‘October 7th 10,000 times more’.
Kraft referred to the recent scandalous incident caught on camera, where an anti-Israel protester shouted “go back to Poland” and “go back to Belarus” at Jewish students outside the campus.
“This hateful rhetoric calling for the death and destruction of an entire population has no place in Columbia or anywhere else,” Kraft wrote.
Columbia is among dozens of universities that have been caught up in the protests between Israel and Hamas, and other prestigious universities, such as Harvard and MIT, have been plunged into chaos.
So-called “Gaza camps” have become common on campuses in recent weeks, where students set up tents and refuse to move in the face of law enforcement.
Columbia is one of dozens of universities that have been caught up in the protests between Israel and Hamas, and other prestigious universities, such as Harvard and MIT, have been plunged into chaos.
So-called “Gaza camps” have become common on campuses in recent weeks, where students set up tents and refuse to move in the face of law enforcement.
Earlier this week, Kraft announced that he had withdrawn his financial support from Columbia University due to rampant anti-Semitism on campus.
The NYPD broke up an encampment at the university on Thursday last week and arrested more than 100 protesters, including Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter.
Columbia University canceled all in-person classes amid escalating anti-Israel protests that have sparked fear among Jewish students and a warning from a rabbi.
Earlier this week, Kraft announced that he had withdrawn his financial support from Columbia University due to rampant anti-Semitism on campus.
“I am deeply saddened by the virulent hatred that continues to grow on campus and across our country,” he said.
Kraft added: “I am hopeful that Columbia and its leaders will confront this hatred by ending these protests immediately and work to regain the respect and trust of many of us who have lost faith in the institution.”
The billionaire also said he hopes Columbia’s Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life will serve “as a source of security for all Jewish students and faculty on campus.”