Home Democrats inform Columbia College admin, ‘time for negotiation is over’

Columbia College management was urged by 21 Home Democrats on Monday that the “time for negotiation is over,” as an anti-Israel encampment broiling with antisemitism has endured on campus for weeks. 

Led Reps. Josh Gottheimer, of New Jersey, and Dan Goldman, of New York, 21 Home Democrats signed onto a letter urging Columbia College’s Board of Trustees to disband “the unauthorized and impermissible encampment of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish activists on campus.” 

Later Monday, the college gave agitators till 2 p.m. to clear the encampment or be suspended.

On account of the disruption on campus, supported by some school members, “many college students have been prevented from safely attending class, the primary library, and from leaving their dorm rooms in an obvious violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” they wrote. The 21 signatories acknowledged how the Columbia administration earlier had “tacitly acknowledged that the encampment had created an impermissibly hostile and unsafe surroundings for Jewish college students by resorting to hybrid studying, showing to violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.” 

“In different phrases, as a substitute of fixing the basis explanation for discrimination and harassment that college students confronted on campus, the administration determined to segregate some college students from campus altogether, which naturally created an unsafe surroundings on campus for all college students,” the Home Democrats wrote.

Whereas saying they respect the Columbia administration’s efforts “to barter in good religion to achieve an settlement that enables these within the encampment to voluntarily disburse with out police intervention,” the Home Democrats wrote that, after almost every week of negotiations, “it’s now abundantly clear that the scholars and activists entrenched on campus are unwilling to enter into an inexpensive settlement to disband, which is important to deliver the College into compliance with Title VI.” 

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Anti-Israel encampment at Columbia College on April 28, 2024.  (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP by way of Getty Photos)

“Those that violate the regulation can not dictate the phrases of the College’s means to adjust to that regulation. It’s previous time for the College to behave decisively, disband the encampment, and make sure the security and safety of all of its college students,” the letter says. “The time for negotiation is over; the time for motion is now. It’s finally the accountability of the Board of Trustees to behave. If any Trustees are unwilling to do that, they need to resign in order that they are often changed by people who will uphold the College’s authorized obligations below Title VI.” 

All members of the Home Republican delegation from New York, led by Home GOP Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, had already demanded Columbia College President Minouche Shafik’s resignation after antisemitic protests continued on campus within the days following her testimony earlier than the Home Training and the Workforce Committee. Shafik, on the day after her testimony, allowed police onto campus to arrest greater than 100 demonstrators, however later that weekend, the encampment boldly reorganized and remained as Shafik opted to maintain police away, outdoors the college gates. 

READ THE HOUSE DEMOCRATS’ LETTER – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

Shafik “lied to Congress a number of instances about radical pro-terror professor Mohamed Abdou’s employment standing,” Stefanik mentioned in a press release obtained by Fox Information Digital. “Regardless of her testimony in any other case, Abdou has been rallying at Columbia’s antisemitic encampment selling Jewish hate. This instantly contradicts Shafik’s testimony which is but another excuse why Shafik should instantly resign.” 

Monday’s letter from Democrats assesses that over the previous week, the Columbia encampment “has been the breeding floor for antisemitic assaults on Jewish college students, together with hate speech, harassment, intimidation, and even threats of violence,” citing how a pupil held up an indication pointing to pro-Israel college students that mentioned “Al-Qa[ss]am’s subsequent targets,” “referring to the army arm of Hamas, the international terrorist group liable for the atrocities of October 7, and for holding hostage harmless civilians – together with People – in brutal captivity for almost seven months.” 

Anti-Israel demonstrators proceed to prepare a protest encampment on the campus of Columbia College on April 26, 2024 in New York Metropolis. (Spencer Platt/Getty Photos)

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The Home Democrats additionally referred to as out how one of many protest leaders beforehand declared, “Zionists — they’re Nazis. They’re Nazis. They’re fascists. They’re supporters of genocide. Why would we would like people who find themselves supporters of genocide to dwell?” and college students routinely chanted “from the river to the ocean,” a cry “to eradicate Israel and all Jews inside its borders.”

In response, the Democrats famous the White Home said, “Whereas each American has the precise to peaceable protest, requires violence and bodily intimidation focusing on Jewish college students and the Jewish group are blatantly antisemitic, unconscionable, and harmful – they’ve completely no place on any faculty campus, or anyplace in america of America.”

In a brand new letter Monday morning, Shafik mentioned a small group of educational leaders that had been partaking in a dialogue with pupil organizers “to discover a path that will outcome within the dismantling of the encampment” haven’t been capable of attain an settlement, lamenting the “tragedy” of Jewish college students leaving campus amid the “insupportable” ambiance. 

“Whereas the College won’t divest from Israel, the College supplied to develop an expedited timeline for overview of recent proposals from the scholars by the Advisory Committee for Socially Accountable Investing, the physique that considers divestment issues,” Shafik mentioned, referencing the protesters’ calls for. “The College additionally supplied to publish a course of for college kids to entry a listing of Columbia’s direct funding holdings, and to extend the frequency of updates to that record of holdings.” 

Anti-Israel encampment at Columbia College on April 28, 2024.  (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP by way of Getty Photos)

She mentioned the college “additionally supplied to make investments in well being and schooling in Gaza, together with supporting early childhood growth and help for displaced students.” 

With out referencing the potential for additional police motion, Shafik once more mentioned the college urges these within the encampment “to voluntarily disperse” and is “consulting with a broader group in our group to discover various inside choices to finish this disaster as quickly as doable.” 

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In a press release first obtained by Fox Information Digital, Stefanik once more torched Shafik for not making a “single condemnation of the vile antisemitism that’s rampant within the unlawful encampment” and mentioned “there’s not a single point out of defending Jewish college students from raging antisemitism at Columbia.”

“As these so-called ‘elite’ universities fail on the worldwide stage, it’s extra necessary than ever that Congress maintain them accountable,” Stefanik mentioned.