Videos circulating online, posted by Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine on X, show the
masked students lining a hallway in Milbank Hall, the oldest building on campus, beating drums and loudly chanting through megaphones.
One of the X posts made by the group — which proclaims “long live the student intifada” in its bio — includes a list of demands, among them a reversal of the expulsions, amnesty for students punished during last year’s anti-Israel campus protests and a public meeting with Dean Leslie Grinage and Barnard President Laura Rosenbury.
The group’s demands also include “abolition of the corrupt Barnard disciplinary process and complete transparency for current, past, and future disciplinary proceedings.”
The pro-Hamas student group claimed in a follow-up post that Barnard public safety has “harassed and shoved” several students, and knocked at least one to the ground. “Who are they really protecting?” the manic social media post read in all-caps.
The two expelled students — who haven’t been publicly identified — barged their way into a “History of Modern Israel” class at Columbia University in order to distribute anti-Jewish literature, including a flyer depicting a boot stomping on a Star of David and another showing an Israeli flag on fire.
The
caught-on-camera saga erupted on Jan. 21, the first day of the semester at the Ivy League campus. The students were quickly slapped with suspensions, and were permanently tossed from the university last week following a probe, according to Columbia’s
Apartheid Divest — a student-led anti-Israel group.
“When rules are broken, when there is no remorse, no reflection, and no willingness to change, we must act,” Rosenbury told The Post in a statement, noting she couldn’t comment directly on a student’s disciplinary record, citing federal law.
“Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but so too is our commitment to respect, inclusion, and the integrity of the academic experience.
Other video shows a large gang of students
thuggishly shoving their way into the historic academic building, pushing past security guards as they shouted “free Palestine.”
Another
video shows a Jewish student wearing a yarmulke allegedly trying to get into the building for class and pleading with a person who appears to be a security guard.
“You’re catering to them. You gotta get them out. We all have to go to class,” the student says.
In a statement, Columbia University said it was “not acceptable conduct” to disrupt academic activities — though stressed that Barnard College bears the responsibility for addressing the protest.
Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, condemned the disruption at Barnard.
“It is completely outrageous that these protesters endorsed masked strangers barging into a New York City classroom during instruction with the clear intention to intimidate Jews and spread fear. Accountability is needed,” said Treyger.
