Here’s What the Columbia Encampment Signifies to Protesting Students

I think that for me to be Jewish is to have survived and to know how to survive. And it’s an absolute disgrace that such a blatant act of genocide is happening in our name because it’s, it goes against everything that we’ve ever stood for throughout history. We know how to survive and we’re gonna stand up for everyone who is trying to survive right now.

— Columbia University, Barnard Class of 2027

I’m someone who identifies as a Sephardic Jew, and my family was Sephardic until the Spanish Inquisition led us to become Catholics. And so for me, my Jewish identity is about reclamation. And standing in the face of colonization as someone who is not only Jewish, but also identifies as indigenous and Mexican, and African American. These are all identities that have been violently colonized, as well as being Jewish and to reclaim my Jewish identity to find the beauty in the face of Judaism is to stand in the face of justice and to stand for justice. And the fact that a blatant genocide is going on where brown bodies are being mutilated, and just disregarded for the uplifting of white bodies is absolutely disgusting. This is not anything that is geared towards anti-Semitism. This is just the twisting of a narrative to not face the truth.

— Columbia University, Barnard Class of 2027

I’m in CEC class of 2027. So I’m a freshman. And first I want to agree with everything that was just said; I think that was very well-spoken. And I think that to condemn the anti-Semitism, one must also condemn the anti-Semitism that’s happening against anti-Zionist Jews at this moment. And to condemn it in the way that the White House did is to deny the Jewish Diaspora and the Jewish the range of Jewish experience at this moment, and I think that it is important to represent Jews who stand on all ends of the spectrum and that there’s so many Jews, a part of the pro Palestine movement and to be pro Palestine is not to be anti-Semitic.

— Columbia University, CEC Class of 2027

I’m in the class of 2026 at CC. I’m a Jewish student at Columbia. And I feel that this statement is a blatant misdirection away from what our values are as a movement within the encampment and also like a blatant erasure of the very real violence that we’ve experienced, like as Pro-Palestine students, while the White House will make a statement like this condemning, condemning anti-Semitism from fringe individuals who aren’t necessarily associated with us, they will give full impunity to a professor who has relentlessly harassed doxed and targeted students for over nine months now, who has called other Jewish students [inaudible], which refers to the Jews who like policed other Jews during the Holocaust and send them to Auschwitz. The irony of this is that these were fascist Jews targeting leftist Jews who were fighting for the liberation of all oppressed people. And I would just like to say that this is completely misdirecting from what our goals are — which is to make the university divest from genocide — and does nothing to keep Jewish students safer. If they wanted to keep Jewish students safer, they would stop the harassment that comes to all Jewish students, including anti-Zionist Jewish students who have received physical threats and threats of violence from within their own community.

— Columbia University, CC Class of 2026

I would invite Biden Well, I can’t anymore but I wish I could have invited Biden to the Seder that we just had. I wasn’t able to be home with mine and I don’t think that it would have gone the way that I wanted it to. I think it’s really amazing to have a space where we can both practice the religious rituals that are part of Judaism and that are in my blood and are in the blood of everybody that was sitting around me. But at the same time, we also want liberation, we want freedom for everybody in Palestine. And also there are a lot of other demands here and this is about what it means to be at a university. And so I think that to imply what’s happening here is anti-Semitic is really indicative of somebody who hasn’t been here. And it’s also really ridiculous because there’s a huge practice of Jewish religious ritual and support: many signs, [and] lots of people who are wearing Judaism proudly. I’m also advocating for liberation.

— Joelle, Columbia University, Columbia Mailman Class of 2024

Hi, my name is Shay. I am in Columbia College’s class of 26 and I am an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace Colombia. My response is that much of it would be a very meaningful intelligent and powerful statement, if it were in response to a systemic pattern of anti-Semitic violence on college campuses, like in Charlottesville, but it’s completely divorced from the reality of what is happening here on this college campus — or I think on any of the college campuses where we are seeing similar actions. These are not options that are you know, even exclusive of Jewish students. Jewish students are disproportionately represented in these spaces. We have been organizing on the ground from day one. It is not a Jewish student versus a pro-Palestine student today. And we are the pro-Palestine students. And the White House is using this specter of anti-Semitism, separating it from other forms of oppression when in reality they’re all intertwined as a political weapon to silence pro-Palestine speech on campuses. Shai [Davidai] he has — I don’t even know where to start with him. Everything he says has been so despicable, so cruel and has been so painful to just watch him. You know, target my friends, my fellow organizers with impunity make the most horrific racist Islamophobic statements. And recently he’s come after us, too. He started explicitly calling JVP Judenrat and pathos, which are both terms tied to like the holocaust. He has called us Jews for Hitler. He has accused us of worshiping the golden calf for celebrating Shabbat in this encampment that he’s just completely off the rails weaponizing an anti-Semitism that he really does not know anything about in order to silence our activism. And the university does not care.

— Shay, Columbia University, CC Class of 2026

My name is Grant Miner. I’m a member of Columbia University of Apartheid Divest. President Biden’s statement really mischaracterizes what’s going on here. There haven’t been any calls from this protest to in any way harm Jewish students. I’m a Jewish student myself. And foremost, I think this just distracts from the political point of this protest, which is to stop the university’s complicity with the genocide in Palestine. And, you know, we reject this attempt to divide us. We have many Jewish people here, and we want to keep concentrated on our goal, which is total divestment, amnesty for all the students who are punished, and complete financial transparency.

— Grant, Columbia University

So I’m a junior class of 2025 and I go to Columbia College where I’m studying neuroscience and behavior. I started protesting the day everything started. I knew that there was a lot of disagreement within our school and I thought it was really important to show up for the Palestinians who are not going to have that voice. In a lot of other schools, I know I have a lot of friends who haven’t had a single protest. And I think at Columbia University, you’re filled with a school of so many activists that you need to be there in numbers because obviously, our administration is against us. I’m in and out of the encampment. Personally, I’m still not fully comfortable with the risk of being arrested or suspended, but when the cops are here, I am picketing around to form the barricade. There are so many reasons to be here. One is the administration is against us by employing NYPD and if you can’t protect your students, our students have to protect our students, and that’s one of the reasons I’m here. I’m just here for the Palestinian cause I don’t know, there’s, you don’t really need a reason to be here. It’s kind of just the right thing to do, you know. I was pretty scared at the beginning. It took me a while to wear my hijab like this hijab specifically. I think I actually am in a few organizations that do have people who are Zionists. And I was scared at first because I felt like for us, we weren’t unapologetically able to say anything but they were, and that was just really annoying. But now you see so much solidarity. I’m still matched because I know there’s always going to be someone who has that risk of doxing us. There are professors against us, but honestly, my professors have finally been speaking out about this. It took them months, which is kind of disappointing, but they at least are saying things and they’re allowing us to have discussions in class. I do feel disappointed that it’s only me and a few other people of color who are speaking up. And then I think in my last class, this one kid was like, “I didn’t just feel inconvenienced by everything.” That’s when you know you’re putting yourself above the cause by being selfish about having to walk to another gate to get to a class. You still have the privilege of going to the school [and] taking your classes. No one’s bothering you. And I guess to them, maybe they’re uncomfortable by, I don’t know, the loudness of the chant. But other than that, it’s been really nice here. People are so kind. We’re just doing our homework, we’re just chanting and watching dances and eating, and it’s like, it’s great.

— Columbia University, CC Class of 2025

I’m graduating this year 2024. I’m here because especially as a Muslim, I believe it’s my duty to fight for what’s right. And it’s important to acknowledge the things that are going around in our life in our back home and everywhere. And just make sure that we do our part as Muslims and, you know, my own country is a Muslim country, and it’s going through its own war as well. And I think it’s important to just realize solidarity comes with fighting for all countries. And I notice people say this a lot but we won’t be free until, you know, Palestine is free. And I think that’s very true because Palestine I believe is honestly the heart of it all and inshallah we will see a free Palestine soon and inshallah we will see a free Muslim population as a whole Muslims will. Insha’Allah soon we will be free and be able to live happily Biiznillah. We can see them unite together. I definitely don’t feel safe. I think that walking, especially even before we did this encampment when I was walking to Juma prayers for example, I will just, I will be walking with an abaya on and hijab on and I just felt like there are multiple eyes on me, which is I’m walking to do a weekly prayer like something that’s mandatory from a religious way that makes me happy and I feel like I’m being watched, which is I don’t think that’s something anyone should be feeling, especially when they’re doing something that makes them happy. So that’s just one example of not feeling comfortable, but I’m exiting my campus and coming back into campus and I’m seeing multiple cops just surrounding me when we get this I don’t know this. I feel like there are probably things happening in the city. If any, cops should be you know doing they’re doing what matters more than watching some students fight for what’s right, you know? I don’t know. I think it’s it’s not a safe campus and not protecting their students and not doing their due diligence and doing what really needs to be done. If that makes sense.

— Columbia University, Class of 2024

I’m a student, class of 2024 and I’m here at the Gaza solidarity encampment for the people of Gaza, for the people of Palestine. I feel it’s really beautiful to have so many people out here supporting Gaza and Palestine. Ever since I was little Palestine has been something that’s been told throughout my life. My father, everyone in my family, and I’ve never imagined when people would care and come right with the first encampment with 100+ students being arrested for this cause it brings so much joy and warmth to my heart and I’m like, how can I not be here? I feel like how can people be watching right now as we speak, not be out here? if you’re a student, be inside the encampment. If you’re not, be outside where other people are protesting, there are so many ways like if you’re not out here, what are you doing for the people of Gaza and Palestine?

— Columbia University, Class of 2024

This has been the most toxic Academic and General environment I’ve ever been in in my life. I come from a red state and I feel that this place is somehow more unsafe. I’m genuinely so appalled by the ignorance of this administration and how even after seeing an encampment and movement like this, they are not backing down, or at least listening to us.

— Columbia University

Hi, I’m class of 2026 and I’m here on the lawns, I think fourth or fifth day in a row now. I’m here to show our unwavering support for our students who put a lot on the line as they showed the school and as we are now showing the school that we will compromise for nothing less than full financial divestment from Israel and its genocide on Palestinians and the school’s stake in that. Oh, I do not [feel the administration has my back]. I am one of the many targets of the school’s disciplinary actions and how the president bought in and authorized the NYPD to come onto campus. I think that was a blatant display of her disregard for her Muslim students and all of her students of color. I do not feel safe as a Muslim on campus, I think, I feel horrible for my hijabi sisters who have several of them have had their hijabs ripped off. And as an Arab showing my keffiyeh on campus you get looks, you get stars and, you know. It’s just gross that the school hasn’t done anything to show, “Ok, we’re gonna have a task force or something like that for Muslims.”

— Columbia University, Class of 2026

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