Pro-Palestinian protesters storm Israeli history class at Columbia U

Columbia Interim President Katrina Armstrong released a statement pledging an investigation into the incident.

By World Israel News Staff

Pro-Palestinian protesters stormed an Israeli history class at Columbia University on Tuesday, disrupting the lecture and creating a hostile environment for students.

Dr. Avi Shilon, an Israeli historian, was teaching about the conflicting narratives around the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 on Tuesday when three students suddenly burst into the lecture hall.

With their faces obscured by keffiyehs, the demonstrators threw anti-Israel fliers at students and began loudly reading a speech.

Shilon noted the irony that the protesters had interrupted a lecture that presented both the Israeli and the Palestinian perspectives on the War of Independence.

“I was trying to be unbiased as I’m used to being and then they knock on the door, and for me, as an Israeli, they looked like mehablim [terrorists],” Shilon told the Times of Israel.

“I didn’t know how to react because if you would be aggressive, they can claim that you pushed them or something, and if you’re going to be more calm, they can continue, so I suggested to them to join the class and to learn about the conflict,” he continued. “They just shouted ‘genocide,’ ‘criminals,’ and didn’t reply.”

Due to his family’s roots in Iraq, Shilon is a fluent Arabic speaker. He tried speaking to the protesters in that language, but to no avail.

“They didn’t understand Arabic, of course. They don’t understand the conflict,” Shilon added.

Columbia Interim President Katrina Armstrong released a statement pledging an investigation into the incident.

“We strongly condemn this disruption, as well as the fliers that included violent imagery that is unacceptable on our campus and in our community. No group of students has a right to disrupt another group of students in a Columbia classroom,” she said.

“We will move quickly to investigate and address this act. We want to be absolutely clear that any act of antisemitism or other form of discrimination, harassment, or intimidation against members of our community is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”