Zionist Israeli professor banned from Columbia campus

(New York Jewish Week) – Shai Davidai, an Israeli assistant professor at Columbia University's business school and outspoken pro-Israel activist, said he has been banned from the school's campus again.

In a video posted to Instagram on Tuesday, Davidai said his lawyer had been informed that Davidai had been barred from campus after he posted videos in which he spoke to university officials on Oct. 7, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack faced anti-Israel protests.

“The university has decided that I am no longer allowed to be on campus as it is my job. Why? Because of October 7th. Because I wasn’t afraid to stand up to the hateful mob,” he said.

A Columbia spokesman said Davidai's access to campus had been temporarily restricted and the scope of the ban was unclear: Davidai teaches at the business school, which is not on Columbia's main campus where the Oct. 7 confrontation occurred.

Davidai is not teaching classes this semester and the access restriction does not affect his compensation or employment status. The school also linked the decision to Davidai's altercations on campus.

Israeli professor Shai Davidai in front of Columbia University, April 22, 2024. (Source: LUKE TRESS)

“Columbia has consistently and continually respected Assistant Professor Davidai’s right to freedom of speech and expression. His freedom of expression has not been restricted and will not be restricted now,” the spokesman said.

“However, Columbia does not tolerate threats of intimidation, harassment or other threatening behavior from its employees. Because Assistant Professor Davidai has repeatedly harassed and intimidated University staff in violation of University policies, we have temporarily restricted his access to campus while he conducts appropriate training on our staff conduct policies,” the statement said.

Davidai, who did not respond to a request for comment, has emerged as a vocal and controversial supporter of Jewish students on campus since shortly after Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

On October 7 of this year, Davidai posted videos of himself confronting Columbia COO Cas Holloway and calling on the administrator to crack down on anti-Israel protesters.

“How could you let this happen on October 7th?” Davidai told Holloway. “You have to do your job and I won’t let you rest if they don’t let us rest. There are Israeli students who are crying and you are not here.”

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In another video, Davidai told Holloway: “You’re indifferent and you know what? Hatred arises when people like you are indifferent.”

He also blamed Holloway for the protests. “This is because of you, this is not happening despite you,” Davidai said, referring to students who chanted “Intifada,” which he described as “a call against Jews and Israelis, suicide bombings.”

In the videos, Holloway largely refrains from answering, saying only: “I understand” and “Thanks, Shai.”

In other videos Davidai posted on X, he confronted a Columbia public safety officer when a Jewish student said he felt unsafe on campus. In one of the videos, Davidai sings the Israeli national anthem while a large pro-Palestinian protest movement marches around him. The protesters do not appear to engage with him, although in another video Davidai films himself allegedly being hindered by the protest.

Colombia's politics

Columbia's employee policies state that “respect for others is the central principle governing human relations at Columbia University” and that employees must “act with courtesy.”

The policy states: “People have the right to disagree, even to disagree completely; However, there is also a responsibility to be polite and maintain respect even when you disagree.”

On October 7, there were dueling protests in Columbia to mark the anniversary. An anti-Israel protester was seen holding a sign that read “Long Live the Al-Aqsa Flood,” Hamas' name for the attack, and several of the terror group's symbols. The activists also distributed fake newspapers that read “Victory of the Resistance” and a picture of Palestinians breaking into Israel.

Pro-Israel students held a memorial service and set up an installation commemorating the hostages held by Hamas with giant milk cartons bearing the prisoners' faces and names. Outside the campus gates, pro-Israel activists, most of whom were not students, staged their own demonstration.

Davidai had already been barred from part of Columbia's campus in April due to the school's pro-Palestinian camp, after he said he wanted to enter the university's main campus to hold a “peaceful meeting” between tents. He rejected an alternative site offered by the administration as a “continuation of six months of oppression and humiliation of the Jewish community.”

Davidai gave a viral speech about anti-Semitism on campus shortly after the Oct. 7 attack and often clashed with Columbia University administration. He called on them to take action against student activists and faculty who he said had created a hostile and threatening atmosphere for Jewish and Israeli students. In April, referring to Holloway, he tweeted: “F– YOU CAS.”

The restrictions on Davidai came as tensions over Israel were once again in the spotlight in Colombia. Last week, the most prominent pro-Palestinian coalition on campus retracted an apology it had issued to a student who said, “Zionists do not deserve to live,” in the statement from Columbia University Apartheid Divest, an alliance of more than 100 student groups, it also says: “Violence is the only way forward.”

Colombia was rocked by anti-Israel protests last year, culminating with the student camp at the end of the spring semester that sparked a movement of similar camps at schools across the United States.

The university called police to campus after protesters violently occupied an administration building, leading to dozens of arrests, most of which were dismissed, and sparking widespread controversy. In April, students held an unauthorized event called “Resistance 101” that featured speakers from Samidoun, an anti-Israel activist group based in Canada that was sanctioned this week by the United States and Canada over its ties to a Palestinian terror group.

Since then, the unrest has continued. Colombia's president resigned in August after three deans resigned for sending text messages that were widely condemned as anti-Semitic during a panel discussion on anti-Semitism.

The university's anti-Semitism task force reported in August that Jewish students faced “overwhelming” discrimination that “affected the entire university community.” A House congressional committee is investigating anti-Semitism at the university.

Colombia's politics

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