A pro-Hamas student organization at Columbia University has reignited calls for violence against the Jewish people six months after apologizing for a member who used the same type of rhetoric in a social media video.
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Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a student organization known for its anti-Israel activism, has made headlines for praising violent attacks against Israeli civilians. The group hosted Khymani James, one of its most vocal members, who said “Zionists don’t deserve to live” in April.
Now, James has doubled down on his remarks:
“Last spring, in the midst of the encampments, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) posted a statement framed as an apology on behalf of Khymani James,” CUAD posted Tuesday night on Instagram. “We deliberately misrepresented your experiences and your words, and we let you down.”
In a since-deleted post on X, James acknowledged in April that he had said several months earlier in an Instagram Live video: “Zionists don’t deserve to live,” and “Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”
In the now-deleted April post, he said, “I misspoke in the heat of the moment, for which I apologize.”
Columbia suspended James in April, and he since sued the university to get his ban overturned.
“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,” James wrote Tuesday in an X post. “I will not allow anyone to shame me for my politics. Anything I said, I meant it.”
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The organization rescinded its apology and reaffirmed its support for “armed resistance” against Israel. “We support liberation by any means necessary,” the group said, adding: “Where you’ve exhausted all peaceful means of resolution, violence is the only path forward.”
Katrina Armstrong, the university’s interim president, condemned the remarks, stating, “Statements advocating for violence or harm are antithetical to the core principles upon which this institution was founded. We must be clear: calls for violence have no place at this or any university.”
CUAD’s violent rhetoric is part of a broader trend across American college campuses that started when the war in Gaza kicked off in October 2023. The group recently praised a shooting in Tel Aviv, Israel, that killed seven Israelis, including a mother who perished while protecting her nine-month-old baby.
In a statement published on its Substack, the organization called the shooting a “bold act” and characterized it as part of the overall resistance against Israeli occupation. “The shooting serves as a reminder that the struggle is not confined to Gaza or Lebanon,” the group asserted.
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The university’s leadership has faced pressure from Jewish and pro-Israel organizations to take stronger action to address the rise of antisemitism on campus. The school, like several others, has grappled with how to handle the volatile nature of student protests which have featured activists chanting anti-Jewish slogans and threatening Jewish students.
In many cases, pro-Hamas operatives have physically assaulted and harassed Jewish students while calling on universities to cut ties with Israel.