More than 200 anti-Israel protesters from Columbia University demonstrated against the arrival of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who was speaking at an event on campus, Israel Hayom reported.
By Rachel Avraham
More than 200 anti-Israel protesters from Columbia University demonstrated against the arrival of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who was speaking at an event on campus, Israel Hayom reported. According to the report, the protesters wore keffiyehs and demonstrated near the venue where Bennett delivered his remarks.
A pro-Israel demonstration was also held at the location, with police separating the sides while preventing protesters from entering the hall where Bennett was speaking, Israel Hayom added. “We understand groups from outside our Columbia community also protested in public spaces outside the University’s gates, which the NYPD was responsible for managing,” Columbia University told the Jerusalem Post.
In defiance, Bennett wrote on X: “Anti-Israelis at Columbia University went out to demonstrate against me as I was trying to speak in front of students. The BDS activists failed. For two hours, I spoke with hundreds of students about our just war against terrible Islamist terrorists and was not silence. I spoke about how Jews are indigenous to Israel and about our rights to the land in the face of violence.”
According to the Times of Israel, a university spokesperson told campus newspaper The Columbia Spectator that administrators had coordinated with the local Hillel chapter on safety preparations for the event “including with respect to any campus protest activity and to minimize potential disruptions to academic activities.” The spokesman added: “The event was well attended and took place without disruption or interference.”
This came as the campus protest on Barnard College that occupied an entire building on campus came to an abrupt end after a bomb threat, the Jerusalem Post reported. According to the report, the anti-Israel protesters claim that the bomb threat was a ruse to clear them from the site. Columbia University Apartheid Divest swore on Instagram to renew protests after the New York Police Department cleared the demonstrators from the Milstein Center, the Jerusalem Post reported. According to the report, Barnard College President Laura Ann Rosenbury said that activists were evacuated so that the NYPD could search for a bomb and assess the threat.
“Barnard staff in the building immediately notified the masked disruptors about the bomb threat and once again told them to leave. Many of them still refused to leave. Our staff, at risk to their own personal safety, remained in the Milstein lobby, urging the masked disrupters to take the threat seriously. Even when the College activated the fire alarm, the masked protesters put our entire campus at risk by refusing to leave,” Rosenbury told the Jerusalem Post. “The decision to request NYPD assistance was guided and informed entirely by the absolute obligation we have to keep every member of our community safe.”
During the evacuation, the NYPD said nine people were taken into custody, given desk appearance tickets, and charged with obstructing governmental administration, trespass, and disorderly conduct, the Jerusalem Post reported. According to the report, Rosenbury said that she had spoken to the protesters over the phone and was willing to meet with them if they removed their masks. The Jerusalem Post noted that this offer was rejected, with CUAD saying on Instagram that they would remove their masks if Barnard disclosed any Israeli financial ties to the activists.
The demonstration was held concurrently with President Donald Trump’s address to Congress, Israel Hayom reported. According to the report, the administration threatened to cancel a contract worth more than $50 million with the university due to their failure to protect Jewish students during waves of protests on campus. Israel Hayom noted that US President Donald Trump recently announced that “All federal funding will be cut to any college, school or university that allows illegal protests.” He added, “All inciters will be jailed or permanently sent to the country they came from. American students will be permanently expelled, or, depending on the crime, arrested.”
