New anti-Israel group at Columbia says CUAD lost focus, pledges to recenter on Palestinian goals

There’s a new pro-Palestine student organization at Columbia University, the Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC). It was established by students who disaffiliated from Columbia’s other anti-Israel group, the controversial Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD).

“The Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition is a collective of Palestinian student organizers who wish to reclaim the pro-Palestinian student movement and recenter Palestine at Columbia University,” members of the group announced in an op-ed published in The Columbia Spectator in October.

CPSC promises to recenter the anti-Israel student movement on Palestine, instead of other left-wing demands.

[RELATED: ‘THIS IS NOT HARD’: PA Senate candidate McCormick wants to revoke tax-free endowments of schools that let anti-Semitism run wild]

“It pains us to realize that the student body no longer seems to know the updates on the ground,” the group wrote. “Our peers are unaware of the severity of the situation because CUAD has lost focus, opting to center individual organizers and revolutionary ideals over our core demands.”

“Statements and actions by CUAD in recent months have alienated and abandoned Palestinian students in the name of pursuing ideology,” the group continued. In total, the op-ed listed four demands, one of which is for the university administration to divest from companies that have financial connections to the state of Israel.

CPSC has been clear that it supports CUAD’s efforts, and has praised their activism as “incredible.”

“CUAD has done incredible work, and we have been part of it for a long time,” CPSC told The Columbia Spectator in a statement on Oct. 29. “Now, we would like to complement CUAD’s initiatives while reclaiming the Palestinian right to narrate and providing a space for the broader student body to organize with us.”

[RELATED: Brown University suspends Students for Justice in Palestine group after reports of harassment and ‘banging on a vehicle’]

“The American and Israeli governments are aware of the power of students, and that is precisely why we have seen the concerted effort to blacklist, brutalize, and arrest us across the country over the past year,” CPSC continued. “But student activists have always been on the right side of history, and we intend to make sure that Columbia will be the first Ivy League to divest from not only Apartheid South Africa, but also Apartheid Israel.”

On Oct. 9, Columbia University Apartheid Divest rescinded an apology the group made after a member said “Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”

In the message rescinding its apology, Columbia University Apartheid Divest also endorsed “liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance.”

Columbia administrators were quick to denounce the statement.

“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.

Campus Reform has reported extensively about CUAD, including its recent call for Hamas to “besiege” Israeli and American embassies.

25 state attorneys general recently wrote an open letter to Columbia President Katrina Armstrong urging the administration not to divest from companies with ties to Israel.

Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.