Columbia University students speak out after school cancels main commencement
Columbia students Elisha Baker and Eden Yadegar talk to Fox News Digital about how the anti-Israel protests have affected them.
A group of Jewish students at Columbia University have released an open letter describing their discomfort with the continued tensions on campus.
The letter, titled "In Our Name: A Message from Jewish Students at Columbia University," was signed and shared by a coalition of Jewish students without attribution to a specific campus organization.
"Over the past six months, many have spoken in our name. Some are well-meaning alumni or non-affiliates who show up to wave the Israeli flag outside Columbia’s gates. Some are politicians looking to use our experiences to foment America’s culture war," the letter reads. "Most notably, some are our Jewish peers who tokenize themselves by claiming to represent 'real Jewish values,' and attempt to delegitimize our lived experiences of antisemitism."
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New York Police Department officers detain dozens of pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University after they barricaded themselves at the Hamilton Hall building near the Gaza Solidarity Encampment in New York. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
"We are targeted for our belief that Israel, our ancestral and religious homeland, has a right to exist," the students claim. "We are targeted by those who misuse the word Zionist as a sanitized slur for Jew, synonymous with racist, oppressive, or genocidal. We know all too well that antisemitism is shapeshifting."
The letter is explicitly Zionist and defends the views of like-minded students on the Columbia campus, claiming the political disagreement over Israel's existence has spilled into conflicts over Jewish identity itself.
"Many of us are not religiously observant, yet Zionism remains a pillar of our Jewish identities. We have been kicked out of Russia, Libya, Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Poland, Egypt, Algeria, Germany, Iran, and the list goes on," the letter reads.
A Columbia student prays near a wall covered in posters of hostages who remain in captivity after Hamas terrorists abducted them in a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
The document is signed by over 100 students at the university and urges a de-escalation of ideological conflicts on campus — but rebukes demands for individuals to abandon Zionist views.
"We connect to Israel not only as our ancestral homeland but as the only place in the modern world where Jews can safely take ownership of their own destiny," the signers said. "Our experiences at Columbia in the last six months are a poignant reminder of just that."
The letter was shared online by Students Supporting Israel President Eden Yadegar, Columbia Political Review Senior Editor Elisha Baker and others.
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Pro-Palestinian students lock arms, sing and chant as they brace for New York Police Department officers to raid the Columbia University campus after Columbia President Minouche Shafik called on the NYPD to dismantle encampments and remove individuals from Hamilton Hall. (Seyma Bayram via AP)
The letter ends with a call for peace and a call for constructive dialogue to replace the increasingly violent campus protests still raging at colleges across the country.
"We came to Columbia because we wanted to expand our minds and engage in complex conversations. While campus may be riddled with hateful rhetoric and simplistic binaries now, it is never too late to start repairing the fractures and begin developing meaningful relationships across political and religious divides," the letter concludes. "Our tradition tells us, ‘Love peace and pursue peace.’ We hope you will join us in earnestly pursuing peace, truth, and empathy. Together we can repair our campus."
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