Columbia University’s rabbinical leaders have urged Jewish students to seek refuge at home until the situation around the campus has “dramatically improved.”
According to a text obtained by CNN’s Jake Tapper, the leaders of Columbia’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, Rav Elie and Tamar Buechler, sent a WhatsApp message to students following dramatic anti-Israel demonstrations in which over 100 people were arrested.
They wrote:
What we are witnessing around campus is terrible and tragic. The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy.
It deeply pains me to say that I recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved.
It is not our job as Jews to ensure our own safety on campus. No one should have to endure this level of hatred, especially at school.
In response to “horrific” scenes of antisemitic harassment at and around campus, the Orthodox Rabbi at Columbia/Barnard sent a WhatsApp message to more than 290+ Jewish students this morning recommending that they go home until it’s safe again for them on campus: pic.twitter.com/uqAntEICLv
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 21, 2024
Among the students involved in this week’s protests was the daughter of the far-left Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Isra Hirsi, who confirmed she had been suspended by the university for “standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.”
i’m an organizer with CU Apartheid Divest @ColumbiaSJP, in my 3 years at @BarnardCollege i have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings
i just received notice that i am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.
— isra hirsi (@israhirsi) April 18, 2024
The protests at Columbia are merely one of thousands of similar demonstrations to take place in recent months, as supporters of the Palestinian cause mobilize in response to Israel’s war on Hamas.