Pressure is mounting on Columbia University to tamp down on anti-Israel demonstrations
House Republican lawmakers have urged major Columbia University donors, outraged by anti-Israel protests on their campuses, to talk to their wallets.
“As members of Congress, we urge donors and individuals affiliated with Columbia University to condemn anti-Semitic incidents on the university campus by donating and supporting the university until there are visible changes in leadership, including the resignation of Columbia University President Minoche Shafiq,” House Republicans, Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo. . led, wrote in an open letter to the Ivy League’s vast and influential network of alumni and donors.
For days, students from Columbia and its sister school, Barnard College, camped out on the upper Manhattan campus and staged demonstrations to protest Columbia’s investments in companies with ties to Israel. It was part of a broader progressive backlash against Israel’s response to the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas against the Jewish state.
But that protest and similar ones at colleges across the country are now facing bipartisan backlash and accusations of trespassing into anti-Semitic territory.
Social media videos from an anti-Israel tent encampment on Columbia’s campus show activists cheering the deaths of Israeli soldiers and showing support for Hamas. Jewish students reported not feeling safe on campus and shared stories of being verbally and physically assaulted.
“They pushed and shoved me… They threw rocks at my face. At that point, my life was completely threatened. And there was no security authority on campus,” one student told NY1 over the weekend.
In their open letter, House GOP lawmakers urged donors to follow the example of Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, who withdrew his support earlier this week in response to the protests.
“We encourage all university supporters to do the same and call for the resignation of President [Minoche] Shafiq,” they wrote.
“The university should conduct a comprehensive review of all school funding and investigate the outside forces that may have influenced students and agitators to participate in these disruptive and violent incidents targeting Jewish students on campus,” they continued.
“Additionally, we call on all university affiliates to conduct a transparent and thorough audit of all university funding of anti-Israel movement on campus and what outside groups are contributing to and influencing student and activist participation.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia, R-N.C. It came a day after he traveled to Columbia with three New York Republicans, where he condemned the protests and reiterated his earlier call for Shafiq. to resign.
“I am here today with my colleagues to call on President Shafiq to resign if this chaos cannot be brought to order immediately,” Johnson was quoted as saying by the students. “As Speaker of the House, I pledge today that Congress will not remain silent as Jewish students are forced to run for their lives and stay home from classes hiding in fear.”
US Newzs Digital has reached out to Columbia University for comment.