The White House has condemned anti-Semitic remarks from a Columbia University student protest organizer who said that “Zionists don’t deserve to live in this world.”
“It is hideous to advocate for the murder of Jews,” Mr. Bates said. “President Biden has been clear that violent rhetoric, hate speech, and Antisemitic remarks have no place in America whatsoever, and he will always stand against them.”
“Zionists, they don’t deserve to live comfortably. ... [They] don’t deserve to live,” Mr. James said in a live-streamed video montage compiled by The Daily Wire, comparing “Zionists” to people such as Nazis, fascists, and racists.
“I feel very comfortable—very comfortable—calling for those people to die.
“People who hold those types of ideologies—the world is better without them. That is what my comment is indicative of, and I will stand with that.”
“What I said was wrong,” Mr. James wrote. “Every member of our community deserves to feel safe without qualification. I also want people to have more context for my words, which I regret. Far right agitators went through months of my social media feed until they found a clip that they edited without context.”
“When there are violations of student conduct policies, they are reviewed and disciplinary measures are applied,” the statement reads.
“Calls of violence and statements targeted at individuals based on their religious, ethnic, or national identity are unacceptable and violate university policy.”
Students at Columbia University are protesting Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Hamas and its military bases in Gaza after the terrorist group invaded the country on Oct. 7, 2023, and massacred about 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and abducted about 250 others to hold hostage for leverage in negotiations, knowing that the Israeli state would have to respond to the attack.
