Watan-A wide debate was sparked after a congressman warned of the “curse of the Lord” befalling Columbia University, following protests by its students in support of Gaza and against unlimited U.S. support for the Israeli war.
Republican congressman Rick Allen appeared in a video speaking during a questioning session with Columbia University President Minouche Shafik just days before her decision to allow police to raid the university building to suppress student protests and arrest over 100 of them.
The Republican congressman directed his question to the university president, who is of Egyptian descent: “Do you want God to curse Columbia University?” Shafik replied, “Certainly not.”
Earlier, Shafik appeared before Congress in protest against the student protests on campus against the war on Gaza, which some lawmakers see as increasing anti-Semitism.
Minouche Shafik, president of Columbia University, appeared besieged and uncertain as members of Congress attacked her one after another for her institution’s alleged failure to prevent what some have termed a “hotbed of anti-Semitism and hatred.”
The level of the debate in the US today. Calling it Wahhabism would be an insult to Wahhabismpic.twitter.com/9qRTYdxPIn
— Bruno Maçães (@MacaesBruno) April 21, 2024
Repetition of Previous Inquiry
It’s noted that the hearing was a repetition of a previous inquiry conducted by the committee with the presidents of three other elite universities, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, last December.
That hearing led to the resignation of University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill after she provided what was considered overly legalistic answers to specific questions from lawmakers about whether her institution’s rules on free speech allowed interpretations by Israel supporters as incitements to genocide.
Condemnation of Suppression
In response, the Columbia and Barnard branches of the American Association of University Professors jointly issued a statement condemning the suppression by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik of student protests in support of Palestinians.
Students set up nearly 60 tents in the southern park of the campus, organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
The university suspended the activities of the latter two organizations in November 2023, prompting civil rights groups to file a lawsuit against the university for its “vindictive and targeted” actions.
The tents, many of them adorned with banners reading “Liberated Zone” and “Israeli Bombs, Columbia Pays,” urged the university to sever its ties with Israel.
In response, Shafik authorized the New York City Police Department to dismantle the camps, claiming they posed “a clear and present danger to the university’s essential operations.” Police arrested over 100 students.
At the same time, New York City Police Commissioner John Teel said the university had identified a “clear and present danger,” adding, “Taking that into account, the students arrested were peaceful, showing no resistance at all, and were saying what they had to say,” according to the Columbia Spectator.
The statement condemned Shafik’s summoning of the police, describing it as “a blatant violation of shared governance norms.” Additionally, chapters pointed to the university’s charter, which requires “consultation” with the Senate Executive Committee “before allowing anything drastic like yesterday’s attack.”