The pro-Palestinan rioting at Columbia University that took place last night is disgusting. Two of the schools’ safety officers were injured and the inside of Butler library was trashed by masked marauders too cowardly to reveal their identities. Students in the library studying for finals were disrupted and others likely scared to death by the anti-Israel and antisemitic mob. Thankfully the school’s acting president Claire Shipman had the good sense to call in NYC cops, who made more than 80 arrests.
Shipman said in a statement that officials believe not all the rioters were students. Of course not. This is just the latest “cause” to attract professional agitators intent on disrupting our society and our country. The Trump administrtaion is entirely correct to push universities to crack down on agitators and also on students who participate in these events. They should be expelled and, if here on a student visa, thrown out of the U.S. Why should Americans tolerate hate speech and violence from foreigners here as our guests?
But in damning the violence we must not ignore the antisemitism that is fueling these protests. All a fair-minded person has to consider, to see these events in perspective, is to imagine that instead of anti-Jew chants and posters, the protesters were issuing anti-Black hatred. We know that would not be tolerated for a second. Why are schools tolerating antisemitism?