Columbia University is posting security guards outside of Jewish studies courses a day after pro-Hamas students stormed an Israeli history class and targeted Jewish students with anti-Semitic flyers.
“We have mobilized the Public Safety team to prevent future incidents, including identifying and directing additional resources to classes at increased risk for disruption,” Columbia announced Wednesday. A security guard was already placed outside at least one class, “Zionist Thought,” which is offered through the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, according to a Jewish student group.
Columbia has now posted a security guard outside of its “Zionist Thought” course. While we appreciate that @Columbia is taking this seriously, the fact that classes relating to Judaism/Israel require security is absurd and demonstrates how much more work there is to be done. https://t.co/FLLr5tvvSL pic.twitter.com/HuVzBbZ69D
— Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students ✡️🇮🇱 (@CUJewsIsraelis) January 22, 2025
On Tuesday, the first day of the spring semester, four keffiyeh-clad student activists marched into an Israeli history class and filmed themselves as they passed out anti-Semitic propaganda to Jewish students. The flyers glorified Hamas, depicted the Star of David being crushed, and promised violence.
“THE ENEMY WILL NOT SEE TOMORROW,” read one flyer, which included an upside-down triangle—a symbol that Hamas uses to denote Israeli targets—to spell “TOMORROW.” The flyer showed a truck full of Hamas terrorists brandishing RPGs and machine guns.
Another flyer, with the caption “CRUSH ZIONISM,” depicted the Star of David underneath a boot. A third included an Israeli flag in flames with the threat to “BURN ZIONISM TO THE GROUND.”
The Democratic National Convention took similar measures during the August event in Chicago. Jewish attendees were forced to meet in “secret locations” due to security threats and were required to register for panel discussions before receiving the location.
Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, condemned Tuesday’s disruption. She said the university would “move quickly to investigate and address this act.”
On Wednesday, the school announced it was expediting its investigation to identify and discipline those responsible and that it would require students to swipe their ID badges to enter campus buildings.
Dozens of activists from Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter staged protests Tuesday both on and off campus in support of “the liberation of Palestine beyond a ceasefire.” As they marched, the protesters chanted, “Resistance is glorious. We will be victorious,” and disrupted street traffic outside the university.
Overnight, students defaced multiple areas of the campus with red spray paint. One piece of graffiti read “Gaza Rises Columbia Falls.” Elsewhere, a poster depicted a child throwing a Molotov cocktail, accompanied by the caption, “Liberation will come from a black and brown thing. Know your brothers. Show your solidarity.”
“WE FIGHT UNTIL WE WIN. UNTIL PALESTINE IS FREE. CLASS IS BACK IN SESSION. GOOD LUCK COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 💥💥💥,” CUAD posted to Instagram on Tuesday.
Columbia University did not respond to a request for comment.
