Actually, nothing really new at Columbia. New students arriving, classes start next week. Still tight security at the gates and the administration’s highest priority is to continue to ensure that no “antisemitic” protest of the war crimes going on in Gaza occurs on this campus. Some people here think this is great, some are appalled, most just don’t care.
I don’t think there’s anyone now unaware of the ongoing wholesale killing of innocents going on in Gaza as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign to drive the Palestinians from that land. The trustees and administration of Columbia know what is going on and have made their decision about their role in it.
In case you think this description of what is happening in Gaza is just the misguided opinion of one particular “antisemitic piece of shit”, here’s a clear explanation of what is going on from a New York Times commentator not known to be an “antisemitic piece of shit”:
I will leave it to historians to debate whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. But what is absolutely clear to me right now is that this Israeli government is committing suicide, homicide and fratricide.
It is destroying Israel’s standing in the world, it is killing Gazan civilians with seemingly no regard for innocent human life, and it is tearing apart Israeli society and world Jewry, between those Jews who want to still stand with Israel no matter what and those who can no longer tolerate, explain or justify where this Israeli government is taking the Jewish state and now want to distance themselves from it….
It is one thing for a country at war to justify collateral damage when going after the enemy’s top leaders. It is something entirely more sinister when you are killing and wounding dozens of civilians to try to kill, say, the deputy to the deputy commander.
It is also devious and sinister when you use your military to move hundreds of thousands of Gazan civilians from one part of Gaza to the other — under the guise of evacuating them from fighting zones — and then deliberately bulldoze the homes they left behind for no real military reason but with the clear ulterior motive of making life so miserable for them that they will leave the area entirely. And it is shameful when you stop and start humanitarian aid, with the hope that people will get hungry enough to leave.
But as I said, this is not just homicide pure and simple; it is also suicide and fratricide. Israel is now well on its way to making itself a pariah state.
Israel is losing allies on a daily basis now, as even the complicit media reports on the war crime du jour. The clock is ticking and if the NYT editorial page turns on the Netanyahu government then you know that they are on a slippery slope. This follows on the heels of Iowa City voting to boycott and divest from Israel and companies that support the war.
Of course the Columbia administration continues to congratulate itself on its recent deal with the government and on its steadfast support of the extremist Likud government. Or for the first time they seem to be unaware that they are out of step with public opinion.
In case you missed it, well known Republican Congresswoman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted this at the weekend, an eloquent distillation of what many feel.
https://x.com/RepMTG/status/1959240450088280116
Whch started a firestorm between her and Laura Loomer.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/marjorie-taylor-greene-issues-passionate-221315126.html
So this is where we are now. MTG stands with the students, and the people of Gaza, and Jewish Voices for Peace. Columbia admin is off stage, somewhere way off to the far right.
Columbia is now stranded on an island with Smotrich, Ben Gvir and Netanyahu. On Marco Rubio Island, perhaps, or floating in Loomer Lagoon, holding hands with Victor Mendelson and Shoshana Shendelman. The rest of the world is watching in horror.
The University is being run by a right wing junta that seized power in a coup, and we are all trapped in Crazy Town until they decide to leave, or we decide to throw them out.
If Thomas Friedman is right, then not only is Israel becoming a pariah (the UN and the global South have already declared this to be true) but Columbia University is one too.
The NYT commentator forget one important detail: all the horrific acts perpetrated against Gaza by the Israeli government are done with the tacit approval of the US government: this is the BIG SHAME!
George Melki,
I would like here to stick to the connection to Columbia. Yes, the US government is providing crucial support for the murders in Gaza. The Columbia administration is doing its part by agreeing to
1. Characterize student protests against the murders as “antisemitic” and change university procedures to ensure that protesting students are expelled.
2. Lockdown the campus, purely to stop pro-Palestinian protests.
3. Adopt a definition of “antisemitism” that will allow charging those in the Columbia community who complain about the murders as “antisemites”.
4. Hiring of new pro-Israeli faculty and a vice-provost to oversee faculty with anti-genocide views.
While all this is going on, we’re being fed happy talk about everything is fine, and the lockdown is to make us all more “secure”. The student newspaper has a long article about the lockdown
https://www.columbiaspectator.com/city-news/2025/08/23/its-just-not-right-morningside-heights-residents-feel-impacts-of-ongoing-summer-gate-closures/
which manages to completely ignore the question of why it is there.
Hi Peter,
Regarding “some people here think this is great” and “some are appalled”, which group is the larger majority at Columbia? One question that I have in particular is whether & how much the answer changes if you restrict your sample to (i) STEM, (ii) physicists + mathematicians, (iii) mathematicians. Do you by any chance also have any gauge on the answer to the later questions (cases (ii) and (iii)) for the whole community, not just exclusive to Columbia? It has almost become existential for me at this point, and I need to decide if I want to be associated with these groups for the remainder of my life (I’m fully aware that no group is perfect, but I need to know where does the majority stand). For instance, why has Israel not been banned yet from the International Math Olympiad? And why was Russia readmitted back?
Regarding “most don’t care”: do you have an idea why is this so? I have often wondered why is it the case that the feeling of guilt does not let me rest, while many other people around me seem to be not bothered at all.
Regarding being called an “antisemitic piece of shit”: does he still think Israel is defending itself? Has he changed his mind yet? Or is he doing more mental gymnastics? If I were to read into his silence on Palestinians getting slaughtered everyday, at this point, I think it is safe to conclude that folks like him are most definitely enablers of a genocide.
Concerned Scientist,
I don’t think the drama between various crazy Fascists in our Fascist government means much.
Unfortunately at this point I don’t see any reason that we’re not headed towards:
1. Mass murder and complete ethnic cleansing of Gaza, replacing the Palestinian population with Israeli settlers. Ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, with Palestinians concentrated in Bantustans/prison camps.
2. Continued lockdown of the campus and harsh crackdown on anyone who does or says anything that will get NY Post coverage and annoy Steven Miller.
3. Full-blown Fascist dictatorship in the US.
4. No significant opposition to any of this from Columbia faculty, students or staff.
Anonymous,
I don’t have enough data to have any idea how things break down STEM/non-STEM, math/physics, etc. My impression is that claims that STEM is on one side, non-STEM on the other are exaggerated. For instance, the only group on campus that I know of that has been holding protests and actively fighting this is CUIMC Stands Up, based at the medical school.
The one thing that is clear is that the overwhelming majority of people feel there is nothing they can do, so best to try to not think about what is going on, especially not things like why one has to go through all these security checkpoints.
The whole point of the fanatical attack on the demonstrations was that those were a real danger to the opposition pro-genocide side. People seeing large groups gathering in the center of campus to protest genocide was starting to give many the idea that maybe they could do something. Shutting this down was the highest priority of those who support the genocide, and they have been completely successful.
You shouldn’t put so much emphasis on issues like the IMO one. Many people quite reasonably think that taking actions against individuals (e.g. possible IMO contestants) based on what their country is doing is a bad idea. One can sensibly argue both sides of this issue.
I certainly wonder what Scott thinks about the ever more obvious genocide. Does he think Tom Friedman is “an antisemitic piece of shit”? Dealing with Scott did really open my eyes. He’s quite clear in explaining the way he thinks about this: Palestinians want to kill him and his family, so he’s fine with killing them. If killing enough of them to make all of them leave is what it takes to make them no longer be a threat to his family, that’s both justifiable and their own fault. From everything I see, this point of view has the majority support of the Israeli people and is (unspoken) Israeli government policy.