Major Jewish funder steps back as Columbia University rocked by anti-Israel protests
Columbia University continued to convulse on Monday as classes were moved online after several days of upheaval over the Israel-Hamas war.
Robert Kraft, a billionaire Jewish philanthropist and alumnus of Columbia, said he “no longer” recognized the school, and that he would stop supporting it “until corrective action is taken.” The Jewish student center on campus is named after Kraft.
Tensions were high near the Columbia’s gates at Broadway and 116th Street where around 100 pro-Palestinian activists gathered. Two yelled “Free Palestine” as they were handcuffed. Many more congregated on the campus inside the gate, which was locked to outsiders.
“The recent harassment and rhetoric is vile and abhorrent,” said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul who visited the school Monday morning. Four Democratic representatives, all of whom are Jewish, held a press conference outside the school Monday afternoon to voice their support. There are roughly 5,000 Jewish students at Columbia, comprising roughly 17% of the population, according to Hillel International.
The turmoil at Columbia, which has seen ongoing demonstrations against the war in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, intensified in recent days. Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, testified before a Congressional committee on Wednesday, where some House members grilled her on the college’s response to antisemitism, while others questioned her commitment to protecting pro-Palestinian speech.
All 10 of New York’s Republican house representatives signed a letter calling for the resignation of Shafik, who is hoping to avoid the fates of her colleagues at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, who were ousted from their jobs after a similar House hearing in December.
Students and local activist groups gathered on and off the campus over the weekend to protest the administration’s authorization of a police crackdown on students who had pitched tents — they call it the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” — on Columbia’s lawn and the suspension of three students for their involvement in the protests. More than 100 people were arrested on Thursday, including Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi.
Rabbi Elie Buechler, who leads the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at Columbia and Barnard, advised over 290 students in a WhatsApp message to return home. “It deeply pains to me to say that I would strong recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved,” Buechler wrote.
Rabbi Yuda Drizin, who co-directs Chabad-Lubavitch at Columbia, passed out boxes of shmurah matzah to Jewish students on Sunday. “They see a rabbi handing out matzah proudly with a smile,” Drizin said, “and they feel like they are not alone; that someone is standing up for them.
Along with his wife, Naomi, Drizin plans to host a Seder on campus Monday night, and have hired extra security. “We refuse to yield to the forces of hate,” the rabbi said. “Instead, we’ll raise our voices in song and dance throughout the nights of Passover.”
At Yale on Monday nearly 50 people were arrested; and more than 1,500 alumni, students and parents called on the school to divest from companies that are supporting the war in Israel. That follows an incident there on Saturday night where a Jewish student reporting on protests was jabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag on Saturday night. It incident occurred after a group of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators allegedly formed a human chain around two visibly Jewish students trying to enter campus.
There were also reports on Monday of pro-Palestinian activists setting up encampments at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and at Tufts and M.I.T., both in the Boston area. Harvard is planning to shut down the 25-acre Hudson Yard for most of the week.
Additional reporting by Mira Fox and Jacob Kornbluh.
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