Columbia University protests lead to remote learning ahead of Passover

Anti-Israel protests escalated on Columbia University’s campus over the weekend of April 20. In response, Columbia President Minouche Shafik announced the campus would switch to remote learning on Monday, April 22, out of concerns for student safety.

Shafik sent a letter in the middle of the night to the student body, saying the school is “in need of a reset.”

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams, D, also released a statement to condemn the escalation of antisemitic rhetoric, referencing specific videos and instances of protesters with signs that read “Al Qasam’s next targets” and protesters shouting “we are Hamas” and “long live Hamas.”

“I condemn this hate speech in the strongest of terms,” Adams said. “Supporting a terrorist organization that aims to kill Jews is sickening and despicable.”

The White House also released a statement this weekend in response to the growing unrest at Columbia University.

“While every American has the right to peaceful protest, calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous — they have absolutely no place on any college campus, or anywhere in the United States of America,” Andrew Bates, White House deputy press secretary, said.

Rabbi Elie Buechler at Columbia has also urged Jewish students to leave campus, telling them to go home as soon as possible.

The events of the past few days have made it clear that Columbia University’s Department of Public Safety and the New York Police Department cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy.

“It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved,” Buechler said. “It is not our job as Jews to ensure our own safety on campus.”

Shafik said tensions on campus have been amplified by people from the outside of the university coming to campus to pursue their own agendas.

Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine posted on X their frustrations with “inflammatory individuals who do not represent” the group and reject “any form of hate or bigotry.”

The pro-Palestine movement began on campus after the university president testified on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, April 17, condemning antisemitism on campus. The university has upped its security, bringing in more than 100 additional personnel following NYPD arresting over 100 protesters on campus last week.

Some Jewish students have expressed safety concerns ahead of the first night of Passover. The Jewish holiday begins the evening of April 22.