The situation at Columbia University and on campuses across the country should come as no surprise. This didn’t happen overnight.
Universities have long tolerated anti-Semitism compared to other forms of discrimination. The demonstrations of the last three weeks are just the latest example of what happens in the absence of leadership between a strong position and attempts to appease both sides. Tensions are rising. Words turn into actions. Threats escalate into violence.
There is right and wrong. Passionate and legitimate protest is a wonderful expression of free speech. Supporting the Palestinians in the struggle for independence is a point of view. Calling for the withdrawal of your university from Israel is a point of view.
Terrorizing, intimidating, and calling for anti-Semitic actions against Jews and the destruction of Israel is not the point. This is not freedom of speech. This is not a demonstration. This is not true. And it’s dangerous.
This is what happens when anti-Semitic behavior and rhetoric go unchecked, if not encouraged, for long periods of time. Inaction, tolerance and ambiguity leave room for hatred, intimidation and terror. Universities must take a very clear stance and demonstrate a zero tolerance policy towards anti-Semitism, just as there must be zero tolerance towards racism, Islamophobia, discrimination based on sexual orientation or any other form of bigotry. There is no other option.
Protesters have violated and threatened the security rights of law-abiding students—fundamental rights that Columbia University President Minouche Shafik and all university officials have a responsibility to ensure. In-person classes have been cancelled. Many students, feeling unsafe amid the violent and noisy protests and facing threats and harassment, left the campus and this unbearable atmosphere at a time when students should be studying for exams and studying for their final exam.
No one has the right to materially disrupt campus operations, threaten or intimidate students, cause damage or destroy property—not students, not faculty, and certainly not outsiders at universities. Will similar remarks be tolerated against the Black or LGBTQ (or any other minority) communities?
There is nothing complicated about what is happening on the campuses of Columbia, UCLA and colleges across the country. The right to protest does not equal the right to wreak havoc, a sentiment echoed by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address last night, calling it “a moment for clarity… Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest”.
Shafika recent testimony Before Congress, she was a shining example of leadership, eclipsing her fellow presidents at Harvard, Penn State, and MIT. She stated unequivocally that calls for the genocide of Jews would violate Columbia University Student Codes of Conduct. I applaud Columbia University for announcing a new Interim University Policy on Safe Demonstrations in February. But does it work?
For a while, it was like Columbia University’s “Contrarian Day”: putting bystanders “in jail” for their own protection and allowing offenders to run free on campus while university officials tolerated their misdeeds. Police were called and arrests were made on campuses across the country, but what was the end result?
Strong words from university officials will not stop chants of killing Jews or curb the harassment that has forced students and faculty to flee campus out of fear for their safety. University Presidents: Your Jewish students and teachers need your leadership. Play. Definitely. Take a very clear position and demonstrate a zero-tolerance policy towards hatred, intimidation and terror. And consistently enforce these policies.
This escalation has become dangerous and undermines public safety and order. But it had to come to this. This is the moment of reckoning. It’s time to get back to basics and do what’s right: protect the safety of students and faculty; preserve the space we reserve for education and communication; explain the principles of freedom of speech; Set expectations about what actions will not be tolerated and consistently enforce them.
Understand that the only way to do this is to draw a line in the sand and set very clear rules for behavior that is racist, violent and illegal. Update policies and codes of conduct to specifically include anti-Semitism. Congress is considering legislation that would expand the definition of anti-Semitism-This is a good place to start. Require every student and teacher to sign that they recognize what freedom of speech is, what passionate protest is, and what unacceptable behavior that crosses the line and has consequences is.
Allowing these protests on college campuses does not mean free speech, and there should be no question about whether they should be stopped. There is good and evil, and the distinction is very clear.
Enough means enough.
Gil Mandelzis, a native of Israel, is the founder and CEO of the company Capitol, a financial technology company with offices in New York, Tel Aviv and London. He believes that everyone matters.
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