“Yes, I’m scared,” says Lauren, 20, a student at Columbia, the emblematic New York university. “This is the first time in my life that I have been afraid to identify as Jewish,” continues this student who grew up in Boston. I am horrified by what is happening, I have been insulted, threatened on campus. I feel isolated. It’s been three weeks since I barely went to class, and my friends have abandoned me. I was even told that swastikas had been drawn on a bathroom wall. » For the young New Yorker, who says she has “been campaigning for the Palestinian cause for years”, this amounts to a betrayal.
Shai Davidai, 40, an Israeli economics professor, makes the same observation: “I was part of a tight-knit community, left-wing people, sharing the same ideas, but I find myself abandoned. Abandoned by colleagues who hide and excuse barbaric acts. I hear the deafening silence of friends and neighbors who refuse to publicly denounce Hamas’ crimes against humanity. »
The administration caught in the crossfire
Davidai is the author of a video that went viral on the X platform (formerly Twitter) in which he denounces the indifference of the administration of Columbia and other major universities, described as “cowardly”. “If my two children were old enough to go to university, I would stop them from going to Columbia,” he says, angrily.
He recalls that the president of Columbia has, to date, not condemned the actions of Hamas. “She was content with a soothing statement about the victims, about her sadness,” he accuses, “as if she were commenting on the death of a grandmother who died in her sleep! »
Same indignation among Henry Swieca, this Jewish billionaire who has just resigned from the board of directors of the Columbia Business School, to which he had made several large donations. “The university’s statements mean nothing when pro-Hamas students march on campus calling for the complete destruction of Israel. When we allow blatantly anti-Jewish student groups and professors to act with impunity, we send a clear and distressing message: Jews are not safe on campus. »
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“On campus, there are many more pro-Palestinians than pro-Israelis, but we do not dare to express ourselves too much,” notes a Muslim journalism student who does not wish to give his name or his home country. Sitting with three friends on the steps of Butler Library, the true heart of Columbia’s intellectual life, named in honor of Nicholas Murray Butler, one of its former presidents, he continues: “It’s always the same thing , we only talk about Palestine when the Israelis are attacked. »
About 100 Columbia professors signed a letter defending students who supported Hamas’ “military action” and calling on administrators to protect them from “disturbing repercussions.”
“There is no room for complexity, no nuance”
“When I hear my fellow students at Columbia chant: From the river to the sea, Plestine will be free, I know what that means, it’s a coded message for the eradication of Jews living in Israel,” observes Judith, 21, a final year philosophy student, who sips tea alone at Joe Café.
The young woman, who proudly displays a Star of David and the Hebrew symbol Chai, is not intimidated. “My grandparents are Holocaust survivors,” she says. My parents always warned me against anti-Semitism, but for me, this is a discovery. »
Could Wokism, this often reductive ideology of awareness of the injustices suffered by racial, sexual, religious minorities, etc., have aggravated intolerance on campuses? “Without a doubt, there is a correlation,” replies Lauren, the student from Boston. There is no room for complexity, no nuance. If you say that Jews should be able to live on Israeli lands, then you are for the genocide of the Palestinians. »
Professor Davidai is not quite of the same opinion: “Most people would say that I am woke, since I have always fought for minorities, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, immigrants, LGBTQI… Everyone should have the same opportunities in life, enjoy the same respect, have the same security. » And he adds: “In fact, you can be for Palestine and against the terror of Hamas at the same time. I will not stop fighting for the freedom of Palestine. »
2023-11-12 06:00:00
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