Barnard Faculty has expelled two college students over a protest during which masked activists disrupted a category on trendy Israel at Columbia University, passing out leaflets with antisemitic imagery and refusing repeated requests to go away.
The 2 Barnard seniors have been a part of the group that interrupted the primary day of the Historical past of Trendy Israel class, in line with Avi Shilon, the Columbia lecturer who teaches the course, confirming a Sunday report within the Jewish Insider.
Mr. Shilon stated he started the category final month by informing college students that they might examine each the Israeli and Palestinian narratives of the 1948 Israeli-Arab Battle.
“At that precise second, pro-Palestinian demonstrators burst into the classroom,” stated Mr. Shilon in a Monday op-ed in The Ahead.
“They brandished posters calling for the eradication of Zionism, and shouted varied issues about ‘genocide in Gaza,’” he stated. “Now, two of these protesters, each seniors at Barnard Faculty, have been expelled.”
A 3rd scholar who attends Columbia was suspended and faraway from campus pending the disciplinary course of in reference to the Jan. 21 protest, in line with a Monday assertion by the university.
Barnard Faculty President Laura Rosenbury declined to touch upon the disciplinary motion, citing federal legislation on scholar privateness, however emphasised that “Barnard will at all times take decisive motion to guard our group as a spot the place studying thrives, people really feel protected, and better schooling is widely known.”
College students at Barnard, a ladies’s school affiliated with Columbia, have entry to Columbia programs and services.
“When guidelines are damaged, when there isn’t any regret, no reflection, and no willingness to alter, we should act,” Ms. Rosenbury stated in a press release to the Columbia Spectator. “Expulsion is at all times a unprecedented measure, however so too is our dedication to respect, inclusion, and the integrity of the tutorial expertise.”
The 2 Barnard college students who have been expelled for disrupting a Columbia classroom have been only a few credit away from graduating.
These mother and father have to be extraordinarily pleased with their kids for throwing away an Ivy League schooling and a promising future on behalf of Hamas terrorists. https://t.co/R61JKTZEdm
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) February 24, 2025
In the course of the protest, one activist learn an anti-Israel harangue whereas others handed out at the least two fliers. The primary stated “Crush Zionism” and confirmed a drawing of a boot stepping on the Star of David, a picture credited to the “Palestinian Liberation Poster Mission.”
The second confirmed an Israeli flag on fireplace with the caption, “Burn Zionism to the Floor,” as proven in a video posted on-line by Cease Antisemitism.
The expulsions are believed to be the primary by Columbia or Barnard since pro-Palestinian unrest erupted on campus following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israeli civilians, which prompted Israel to declare warfare.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a pro-Palestinian group, vowed Monday to carry a “week of motion demanding Barnard reinstate our college students now,” together with a Thursday “sickout and picket.”
“On February twenty first, Barnard Faculty expelled two college students for his or her alleged involvement within the classroom disruption of ‘Historical past of Trendy Israel,’” stated the group on Instagram.
The group accused Barnard of expelling the scholars “below stress from zionist billionaires.”
“We reject Barnard’s makes an attempt to intimidate us out of combating in opposition to the zionist genocide of Palestine,” stated the Instagram publish. “We demand that Barnard reinstates our friends and we is not going to hand over till they accomplish that.”
Final weekend, the group posted a video clip of the January protest with the message, “We disrupted a zionist class, and it is best to too.”
Columbia disavowed the publish, saying it was made by a bunch “not acknowledged, licensed or supported by the University.”
“We condemn this unacceptable name to disrupt our tutorial mission,” stated the Monday assertion. “Disruptions to our school rooms and efforts to intimidate or harass our college students aren’t acceptable, are an affront to our College group, and won’t be tolerated.”
