Columbia University has canceled all in-person classes on Monday due to protests at the campus over Israel’s military actions against Hamas in Gaza.
In a statement on April 22, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik announced that all classes would be held virtually as Passover begins, saying the decision was made to “deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps.”
“During the coming days, a working group of Deans, university administrators, and faculty members will try to bring this crisis to a resolution,” Ms. Shafik said.
She added: “That includes continuing discussions with the student protestors and identifying actions we can take as a community to enable us to peacefully complete the term and return to respectful engagement with each other.”
Since protests erupted at the 270-year-old university in the Manhattan borough of New York City on April 17, New York police arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators after they set up an encampment made of tents.
On April 18, Ms. Shafik ordered authorities to sweep the encampment, saying protesters violated “a long list of rules and policies” by occupying the school’s lawns.
“The current encampment violates all of the new policies, severely disrupts campus life, and creates a harassing and intimidating environment for many of our students,” the president said in a statement, warning protesters who violate this rule “will be identified and subjected to disciplinary action.”
Ms. Shafik also said that there have been too many cases of intimidating and harassing behavior occurring on campus recently, pointing out that demonstrators using “antisemitic language” to hurt and frighten people is “unacceptable, and appropriate action will be taken.”
Safety Concerns
The shift to remote learning comes a day after the White House condemned the protests following reports that Elie Buechler, an Orthodox rabbi at Columbia University and its affiliate Barnard College, advised Jewish students to stay away from campus for their safety.“It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved,” Mr. Buechler said in a WhatsApp message sent to hundreds before the start of Passover over the weekend.
“Echoing the rhetoric of terrorist organizations, especially in the wake of the worst massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, is despicable,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement on X, referring to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed.
On April 21, one of the groups organizing the protests, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, said a statement on X that its members “have been misidentified by a politically motivated mob.” It called some of those getting attention for threats and aggression “inflammatory individuals who do not represent us.”
“At universities across the nation, our movement is united in valuing every human life,” they said. “We firmly reject any form of hate or bigotry.”
President Joe Biden, meanwhile, condemned recent behavior at U.S. campuses in a separate message for Passover, a major Jewish holiday that starts on April 22.
He highlighted the “alarming surge of Antisemitism” in U.S. schools, communities, and online. However, he did not explicitly refer to incidents at Columbia University.
“Silence is complicity. Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous—and it has absolutely no place on college campuses or anywhere in our country,” President Biden said.
The protests at Columbia, reminiscent of the demonstrations against the Vietnam War at Columbia more than 50 years ago, are the latest in a series of protests disrupting university campuses, bridges, and airports since the Oct. 7 attack against Israel.
