‘Violence is the only path forward’: Columbia University anti-Israel group voices open support for terrorism, student who says Zionists don’t deserve to live

Support for armed resistance has long been commonplace among anti-Israel organizations, but it is rarely stated explicitly.

By Jack Elbaum, The Algemeiner

Columbia University’s major anti-Israel organizations came out in support of Palestinian terrorism and a student who said that Zionists do not deserve to live in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

“Violence is the only path forward,” a joint Instagram post between Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and Columbia Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) read. “We are proud to be a part of the fight for the liberation of all oppressed peoples.”

Elsewhere in the post, the groups made clear that they “support liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance.”

Support for armed resistance has long been commonplace among anti-Israel organizations, but it is rarely stated explicitly.

The statement from the Columbia student groups came in a longer post regarding Khymani James, a student at Columbia who was on video earlier this year saying “Zionists don’t deserve to live” and proclaiming that people should “be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”

He also said, “I don’t fight to injure or for there to be a winner or a loser, I fight to kill.”

James was reportedly a leader of Columbia’s anti-Israel movement and “Gaza solidarity encampment.”

The comments triggered backlash and what was widely seen as an apology for James on behalf of CUAD. However, the most recent post was a retraction of the previous apology.

“All CUAD organizers were complicit in not maintaining our political line, keeping the statement public on our Instagram, and in neglecting the mental and physical safety of Khymani,” the post read. CUAD apologized for causing “irrevocable harm” to him.

Despite James’ comments about the possibility of murdering Zionists, CUAD’s post claims that he was criticized and socially ostracized for “fight[ing] back against state violence.”

James also responded to this post, writing on Twitter/X, “Thank you to my comrades for posting this beautiful, powerful letter. I never wrote the neo-liberal apology posted in late April, and I’m glad we’ve set the record straight once and for all. I will not allow anyone to shame me for my politics.”

“Anything I said, I meant it,” he concluded.

AntisemitismColumbia University Apartheid DivestJVPTerrorismviolence