Columbia leadership condemns anti-Israel student group for saying 'violence is the only path forward'
Columbia University administrators have released a statement condemning calls for violence from one of its anti-Israel organizations.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest recently took to Instagram to write, 'violence is the only path forward.'
Columbia University administrators have released a statement condemning calls for violence from one of its anti-Israel organizations.
The statement came a day after Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) apologized for previously condemning one of its members for saying “Zionists don’t deserve to live,” and “Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”
Columbia University student Khymani James made the comments in January, per The Columbia Spectator; James and CUAD apologized for the comments in April.
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Last week, however, CUAD retracted the apology in an Instagram post, stating: “We support liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance.”
“It is of the utmost importance that we clear the record regarding this statement,” CUAD wrote in the Oct 8. post. “The statement was written by several CUAD organizers, not Khymani, and does not reflect Khymani or CUAD’s values or political lines. However, all CUAD organizers were complicit in not maintaining our political line, keeping the statement public on our instagram [sic], and in neglecting the mental and physical safety of Khymani.”
CUAD, invoking Marxists Fidel Castro and Frantz Fanon, wrote: “in the face of violence from the oppressor equipped with the most lethal military force on the planet, where you’ve exhausted all peaceful means of resolution, violence is the only path forward.”
In an Oct. 9 statement, titled “Calls for Violence Have No Place at Columbia,” Columbia administrators condemned the student group’s remarks.
“Statements advocating for violence or harm are antithetical to the core principles upon which this institution was founded,” Interim President Katrina Armstrong, Provost Angela Olinto, and the Executive Committee of the University Senate said.
“This has seemed so fundamental that it did not require saying,” they continued, “to hear such things in our community is an aberration, whether or not protected by the First Amendment. We must be clear: calls for violence have no place at this or any university.”
The statement also indicated that the university will prioritize safety over an “open campus.”
“We aspire to be an open campus but cannot be open while we are uncertain of safety. The trade-offs, between the safety of our students, faculty, and staff and the ideal of a campus porous to the city, are real,” the message continued. “This week, with social media mixing calls for armed violence in the Middle East with defenses of local statements calling for violence, the balance tips to safety.”
“As leaders of Columbia University, we stand against any calls for violence,” the administrators concluded.
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
