A Columbia University professor blasted pro-Hamas student groups Thursday and roasted the university for not forcefully condemning them in a video posted Thursday.
Shai Davidai, an Israeli-American assistant professor, took aim at Columbia University President Minouche Shafik over her lack of response to the anti-Israel protests on campus. Davidai shared these remarks during a campus vigil in honor of the Israelis slain during the Oct. 7 attacks. (RELATED: Former Ivy League Student Faces Hate Crime Charges After Allegedly Assaulting Israeli Student)
“President Minouche Shafik of Columbia University, you are a coward,” the assistant professor declared.
Davidai challenged the university president to remove the so-called “pro-terror” groups from Columbia University. He suggested that the campus is not safe for Jewish students and that would not send his daughter there as a result.
“Where are you, President Shafik of Columbia University? We are waiting for you to eradicate all pro-terror student organizations from campus,” he said.
“If my amazing 2-year-old daughter was now 18 years old, I would never — never — send her to Columbia,” he shouted. “Not because it’s not a great institution — it’s an amazing institution. But because I know that she will not be protected there because the president of the university allows pro-terrorists to march on campus.”
The assistant professor suggested that the climate campus made him feel unsafe and devalued.
“I’m speaking up because I walked onto my own campus — the place that employs me, that is supposed to keep me safe — and I was shivering,” he said. “I am 40 years old and I was shivering to come to my own employment. Imagine not being able to go to your work because your boss does not value your life, because your boss supports pro-terror organizations.”
The Columbia University President has released multiple statements acknowledging the “terror attacks on Israel and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” She acknowledged the “abhorrent rhetoric” directed towards certain Columbia University students and staff regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Campus tensions have erupted at Columbia in the wake of the Hamas attack against Israel. The university increased security measures, including limiting access to campus in the week following the terror attack. An Israeli student was reportedly assaulted on campus for hanging up flyers of Israeli citizens taken hostage by Hamas.
Anti-Israel protests have also roiled the elite university’s relations with alumni and employers. Prestigious law fire Davis Polk announced that they rescinded employment offers from Columbia students who signed onto an anti-Israel statement.