Pro-Hamas activist tells Columbia students to 'take out' pro-Israel prof during webinar
An imam in upstate New York urged pro-Palestine students at Columbia University to target a pro-Israel professor during a webinar on Aug. 20.
Campus Reform recently reported that anti-Israel demonstrators vandalized a statue on Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus on Sept. 3.
An Islamic religious leader recently told pro-Hamas students at Columbia University to “take out” a pro-Israel professor during a recent webinar.
The New York Post reported that the religious leader—who is named Tom Facchine and is an imam in upstate New York—made the statements on Aug. 20. Specifically, Facchine asked how to get Columbia Professor Shai Davidai “in trouble.”
“That Shai Davidai guy: How do we get him in trouble? How do we create a situation in which he’s in jeopardy?,” Facchine reportedly asked. “If you’re able to take out somebody like that and make an example, that might shut up a hundred more.”
In response, Davidai, who has been openly supportive of Israel in the midst of its ongoing counteroffensive in Gaza, told the Post that he would not be daunted by the imam’s statements.
“I will not be silenced – I know I’m speaking the truth,” Davidai said. “It feels like they put a target on my back – with the explicit goal to take me down, to get me fired, to make up complaints about me.”
“This is not some run of the mill, uninformed individual [whipping] up students,” Davidai added about Facchine. “This is a radical extremist who knows exactly what he’s saying.”
According to his profile on Columbia’s website, Davidai is a professor at the Columbia Business School and has his Ph.D. from Cornell University. He was also previously a post-doctoral fellow at Princeton University.
Campus Reform recently reported that anti-Israel demonstrators vandalized a statue on Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus on Tuesday.
A group called “Unity of Fields,” which states that it is an “anti-Imperialist propaganda front bringing the war home,” posted a message declaring that the Tuesday act of vandalization would not be the last.
“This action is the first of many,” the group stated. “We will not stop until the university fully divests from all forms of settler-colonial violence.”
“We refuse to allow Columbia to return to a state of ‘normalcy’,” the group continued. “‘Normalcy’ is the structurally impelled displacement and eventual destruction of the Palestinian people”
Campus Reform additionally reported in August that two Columbia professors with alleged ties to the pro-Hamas encampment occupy positions on a committee tasked with determining regulations for campus protests. Both of the professors, Joseph Slaughter and Susan Bernofsky, have been vocally anti-Israel.
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
