Keffiyeh-Wearing Columbia Students Were Allegedly Assaulted. A Year Later, No One Has Been Punished
It’s clear Washington and universities do care about campus safety – just only for one group: pro-Israel students.
At a Columbia University gala, students wearing keffiyehs were allegedly called terrorists, told to “go back to Gaza,” and grabbed, pushed, and had their keffiyehs snatched by other students. At one point, students reportedly sang the Israeli national anthem, some flipping off those wearing keffiyehs, “obstructing the main walkway out of the event.” After the gala, five men allegedly verbally confronted two students, including one who had said they were a Jewish student with different views on Israel, and proceeded to kick and punch them.
Nearly a year later, and it appears no one has been held accountable for the alleged assault.
The incident didn’t get much media coverage, and no congressional hearings – but perhaps that shouldn’t be a surprise, given it’s one of now a mountain of examples illustrating whose “safety” universities and Congress really only care about: pro-Israel students.
Chronicle of violence
The alleged gala attack is cited in a massive 335-page report released earlier this week by Columbia University’s senate – composed of both students and faculty. The document meticulously chronicles the school administration's response to the pro-Palestine and anti-war student protests over 15 months.
Along with the alleged attack, that timeline includes the school blaming students for hosting a rally for Gaza, where they could then be attacked with a noxious spray by pro-Israel students (and paying out $395,000 to one of the perpetrators), hiring private investigators to enter student residences, siccing the police onto its own students – twice, and creating unaccountable university committees tasked with overseeing student discipline and rule enforcement.
The timeline also looked at the parade of several members of Congress (both on campus and in DC) calling for a crackdown on student protesters, and two group chats: one of billionaires and one of pro-Israel alumni and current faculty, including a dean – where participants discussed efforts to push the school to crack down harder on students.
So, in many respects, the report is a chronicle of the violence tolerated, encouraged, and enacted under the flag of “student safety.”
And the university’s response to the gala attack underscores just who is – and who isn't – worth keeping safe on campus.