Columbia condemns anti-Israel event hosted by unauthorized university group
Columbia University clarified that Columbia University Health Sciences for Palestine, which hosted a controversial anti-Israel event featuring surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sittah, is not an official university group and cannot use university resources.
Abu-Sittah has previously expressed support for figures linked to terrorism and criticized Israel and Western nations during the event.
A faculty group at Columbia University recently hosted an anti-Israel doctor, causing the university administration to release a statement clarifying that the group is not an official campus organization.
The group is called Columbia University Health Sciences for Palestine (CUHSP) and controversially hosted surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sittah for an event entitled “Gaza: Public Health in Crisis” on Sept. 10.
Abu-Sittah has supported terrorists in the past, including a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), according to The Washington Free Beacon.
A Columbia spokeswoman told the Washington Free Beacon that CUHSP, which hosted Abu-Sittah, is not an official Columbia group and should not have access to university resources.
“Columbia University Health Sciences for Palestine is not a recognized Columbia group and is not authorized to hold an event using University resources,” the spokesperson stated. “The group has been reminded of this and told to remove any Columbia logos from their materials.”
In the course of the event on Sept. 10, Abu-Sittah called Israel “the tip of the genocidal iceberg,” and accused Western nations such as the United States as being members of a “genocidal project.”
Abu-Sittah previously attended the funeral of Maher Al-Yamani, who helped plan a hijacking that resulted in Israeli hostages being taken.
“All of Maher’s efforts, since the day he opened his eyes to this world and he became a young man, didn’t go to waste, because the Israeli intelligence is still looking,” Abu-Sittah said at the funeral, which was held in 2019. “And this is our only comfort: that even when Maher leaves the Israelis will still be afraid of Maher.”
Two Columbia students were arrested for disorderly conduct in connection to a pro-Palestine protest in September.
Reportedly, the two students demonstrated outside the university’s campus for upwards of five hours, chanting anti-Israel slogans including “over 100,000 dead, Columbia your hands are red” and “don’t cross the picket line, we must honor Palestine.”
Campus Reform has also reported that anti-Israel Columbia students recently protested a class taught by Hilary Clinton. During the protest, the students chanted slogans including “From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever,” “Resist until victory,” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
