Footage of the disruption showed about a dozen protesters with Palestinian headscarves walk out of the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life while holding up signs as Axios journalist Barak Ravid spoke to students.
An anti-Israel coalition, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, accused Ravid of being a “henchman of genocide” and slammed the Ivy League school’s leaders for allowing him to speak on campus in an online post.
CUAD also called on Columbia and its sister school, Barnard, to cut all ties with Hillel — the Jewish campus group that’s based in the Kraft Center.
Outside of the Kraft Center, agitators banged on drums while chanting, “Over 100,000 people dead, Hillel your hands are red,” according to footage posted to X.
Additional video posted by one student showed the protesters chanting, “Make sure Hillel knows we’ll be back.”
Jewish students slammed Thursday’s protests.
“Hillel is the largest Jewish organization on campuses across the country,” student Eden Yadegar tweeted. “This isn’t activism, it’s horrific antisemitism.”
“Protesters @Columbia make their intentions clear: This will not be an easy year for Jewish students on campus,” student Eliana Goldin posted online.
Business professor Shai Davidai also blasted the elite school.
“As a professor at @Columbia, it pains me to see how little this administration cares about its Jewish students (although they love their tuition dollars,” the Israeli native wrote on social media.
Columbia condemned the anti-Israel protest in a statement Thursday.
“Any efforts to intimidate the Kraft Center, Hillel and our Jewish community and all forms of antisemitism are unacceptable and inimical to what we stand for as a University,” the school said.
“The Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life, the home of Columbia and Barnard’s vibrant Hillel, is a vital part of our campus, providing a welcoming space for our students to explore and celebrate Jewish culture and identity,” the university also stated.
“We appreciate the many contributions the Kraft Center and Hillel make to supporting our Jewish community and building our University community.”
