Columbia suspends pro-Israel professor from campus

Shai Davidai, who accused the university of being a hotbed of anti-Semitism, is accused of harassing and intimidating Columbia’s employees.

Shai Davidai was a fixture at pro-Israel protests. Picture: Getty Image.

An outspoken Columbia University professor, who has accused the school of being a hotbed of antisemitism, has been temporarily banned from its campus.

Columbia said it isn’t letting Shai Davidai on its campus because he has repeatedly harassed and intimidated the university’s employees, including in an incident last week. Columbia said it expects Davidai will return to campus after he completes training on how employees should behave. The school didn’t say how long the training would last.

Davidai, a Columbia business professor who has been a fixture at protests, said in a phone interview that the school was referring to an Oct. 7 event on campus commemorating the victims of last year’s Hamas attack on Israel.

“This is clear retaliation,” Davidai said. “I feel horrible – not for myself. The university is basically telling Jewish students, the Jewish community, where it stands.” Columbia said it respects Davidai’s right to free speech.

Davidai said the university told his lawyers he was being banned from campus on Tuesday. Columbia said the professor is still employed by the university and the ban doesn’t affect his compensation.

Davidai, who is Jewish, said he was at the Oct. 7 memorial when pro-Palestinian protesters started circling it. He saw employees walking by, including Cas Holloway, Columbia’s chief operating officer, and started filming them to post the videos to social media, asking them why they were allowing the protests to happen.

“This is the COO of Columbia allowing this to happen on October 7,” Davidai said in one video as he follows Holloway. “Cas, what do you have to say?”

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators march through the Columbia University campus to mark one year of the war between Hamas and Israel. Picture: AFP.

Columbia and other universities were rocked by pro-Palestinian protests and encampments after the Oct. 7 attack and the subsequent war in Gaza. This spring, pro-Palestinian protesters took over and barricaded a building on campus. Police were brought in, pulling students out and arresting them.

Davidai has been critical of Columbia for allowing the protests to go on, posting frequently on social media that the campus isn’t safe for Jewish students.

Minouche Shafik, the school’s former president, stepped down in August after intense criticism from some donors, alumni and students that she wasn’t doing enough to stop the protests. She was also criticised by others for allowing police on campus. Shafik cited the toll the job had taken on her family for her resignation.

Katrina Armstrong, who runs the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, was named interim president.

A recent report by a task force of Columbia faculty members found that Jewish students at the university were threatened and harassed on campus during the past school year. Nearly 500 students were interviewed by the task force and found antisemitism against students was pervasive on campus and on social media.

Davidai, who has worked at Columbia for more than five years, said he isn’t currently teaching classes because the fall semester is when he conducts his research.

The ban, he said, will prevent him from going to his office and faculty meetings, making it hard for him to complete his work.

Dow Jones