‘A focal point of hate’: Pro-Israel activists at Columbia decry campus hostility
Hundreds gather for rally to denounce unruly anti-Israel encampment that has left some Jewish students fearful to walk on campus, as Hamas-held captives weigh heavy on hearts
Reporter at The Times of Israel
NEW YORK — Hundreds of people gathered behind metal barricades Friday morning outside the still-locked main gates of Columbia University to amplify the plight of the 133 hostages that continue to be held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, and to show Jewish and Israeli students they aren’t alone as anti-Israel protests on campus continued into their 10th day.
“I felt like I really had to be here to use my freedom of speech to put pressure to get the hostages out. When I see what’s happening on the campus, and hear some of the things people are saying, some of it violent, it feels painful,” said Adina Shoulson, a Columbia University alumna who wore a pin with the number 203.
“I started wearing the pin on day 100, like Rachel [Goldberg-Polin], to signify the number of days the hostages have been held,” she said, referring to the mother of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin
The hostages were among the 253 kidnapped to the Gaza Strip during the October 7 attacks, in which thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 people of all ages, including entire families, amid rape, torture and mutilation.
In a sea of flags — Israeli and American, Hungarian and Mexican — the demonstrators chanted, “Bring them home now.” They sang Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem. They read the names of the hostages aloud — both the living and those killed while in Hamas captivity. They affixed fresh hostage posters over the remnants of older posters, some of which had been torn down by anti-Israel activists.
“During the past six months, and especially the last week, we have endured what has become a focal point of hate and a threatening and hostile environment,” said Omer Lubaton-Granot, an organizer for the New York chapter of the Hostage and Missing Family Forum and graduate student at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
This, he said, was “contrary to the values of the university in which we chose to learn, targeting us as Jewish and Israeli students — making it impossible to be a member of the community, or to reside in the university surroundings.”
As students with keffiyehs draped loosely around their shoulders walked by carrying iced coffees, police clad in riot gear asked those not behind barricades to keep moving.
Clad in a black sweatshirt and sweatpants, Kosha Dillz, an Israeli-American rapper, came to the demonstration fresh from a morning run.
“I just want to show my support. It wasn’t even two weeks into the war when people started ripping down hostage posters. The universities aren’t controlling their campuses and it’s become so you can be Jewish so long as you disapprove of anything Israeli. That’s insane,” he said.
The demonstration was conducted against the backdrop of the week-and-a-half-old anti-Israel tent encampment on the university’s West Lawn, which has ground campus activity nearly to a halt and has remained active despite administration pleas, threats and negotiations to have it taken down.
There have been widespread reports by students that antisemitic rhetoric has spiked on campus in recent months, with the encampment being a focal point and aggravating factor. This has resulted in many Jewish students leaving campus out of fear for their safety and to escape hostility, harassment or isolation from anti-Israel students and faculty.
The NYPD cleared the tents from the lawn last week and arrested 108 protestors for trespassing and obstruction. A new encampment was erected within hours.
Since then, Columbia President Minouche Shafik has negotiated for an end to the occupation of the West Lawn with the protest leaders, who are demanding the university divest from Israel and sever ties with Tel Aviv University. She has repeatedly extended the deadline for the removal of the encampment.
Many who turned out to show support for the hostages on the brisk, sunny Friday morning said they were in disbelief over the university’s handling of the situation.
“All these privileged students who pay $80,000 a year to go to college, while these kids are being held in Gaza — they can’t go to college,” said pro-Israel protestor Laura Green.
She pointed to a photograph she was holding of a hostage still held by Hamas. “This is Omer Neutra, he was supposed to go to SUNY-Binghamton. He’s not going.”
She added that the pro-Palestinian student demonstrators are “focusing on Israel when they should be focusing on Hamas.”
Green was joined by her friends Karen Kosowsky and Veronica Lurvey, all of whom held larger-than-life milk cartons bearing photos of hostages.
In addition to decrying the Hamas atrocities, protestors condemned the fact that the hostages have gone more than six months without being visited by the United Nations, the Red Cross, or other humanitarian agencies.
“I felt a pull to come to campus today to be an eyewitness. The hostages have been held too long and I’m very sad to see those gates are closed,” said Felicia Kohn, from Milan, Italy.
The demonstration came two days after Hamas released a video of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old American-Israeli who was captured on October 7 at the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im. Of the 1,200 Israelis killed that day, 360 were at the music festival.
“Where is the American outrage? We will not let Morningside Heights and America turn away from this,” Lurvey said.
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden and 17 other world leaders issued a joint call for Hamas to immediately release the remaining hostages, who are as young as a year old and as old as 86.
“We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for over 200 days. They include our own [American] citizens. The fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza, who are protected under international law, is of international concern,” the protest leaders said.
Len Gutman of New York has come to many protests since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught.
“Usually there are very few people. I’m pleased with the turnout. I am glad to see this counter-protest to the mob in the encampment. This is heartening,” Gutman said, holding his dog’s leash in one hand and a hostage poster in another.
