Columbia bars Gaza encampment activist who said ‘Zionists don’t deserve to live’ and discussed beating them to death…four months after holding disciplinary over his vile remarks

A Columbia student who posted a livestream stating that “Zionists don’t deserve to live” has ultimately been banned from the university’s campus, four months after making the inflammatory comments.

Protester Khymani James, who served as spokesperson for the pro-Palestinian camp as a member of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest, was banned from setting foot on university grounds on Friday and is now facing disciplinary action.

James, who uses the pronouns “he/she/they,” said in the video that “Zionists don’t deserve to live” and that people should be grateful that James didn’t kill them.

They faced a disciplinary hearing with Columbia bosses earlier this year in which they were asked to clarify what they meant, but no action was taken.

No disciplinary action was taken over the comments, despite James stating that they wanted to be kicked out so they could travel to South America.

James, a senior at the university, has walked back the comments in the January online video after they suddenly gained renewed attention.

“What I said was wrong,” James said in a statement. “Every member of our community deserves to feel safe without any qualifications.”

James had been one of the leaders of the Gaza solidarity camp who has overtaken the New York City school campus, but protest organizers say the comments did not reflect their values.

The university has not clarified whether James has been suspended or permanently expelled.

“Calls for violence and statements targeting individuals based on their religious, ethnic or national identity are unacceptable and contrary to university policy,” a school spokesperson said.

In a recording of the now four-month-old stream posted on X by Daily Wire journalist Kassy AkivaJames meets with staff at Columbia’s Center for Student Success and Intervention through an Instagram post of his that warned Zionists, “I don’t fight to injure or have a winner or a loser, I fight to kill,” they wrote.

A Columbia employee asked, “Do you see why that’s problematic in some way?”

James replied, “No.”

James continues to defend the position that all Zionists “don’t deserve to live,” even laughing at one point in the video.

“These are all the same people,” they said. “Its existence and the projects they have built, i.e. Israel, it all contradicts peace. It is all contrary to peace. And so, yes, I feel very comfortable, very comfortable, calling those people to die.”

James shared their logic with the university staff, saying, “I think taking someone’s life in certain scenarios is necessary and better for the whole world. Personally, I’ve never killed anyone.

“Thank the Lord no one put me in that position.”

James then compares the Zionists to Hitler and Nazi soldiers, as well as to Haitian slave owners, whose slaves had to kill them “to gain their independence.”

“These were masters who were white supremacists. What is a Zionist? A white supremacist. So let’s be very clear: I’m not saying I’m going out to kill Zionists.

“What I’m saying is that if a person who identifies as a Zionist personally threatens my physical safety, that is, lays hands on me, I’m going to defend myself and in that case it may come to a point where I don’t do that anymore. “I don’t know when to stop,” they added.

“Zionists don’t deserve to live comfortably, let alone Zionists don’t deserve to live.

“The same way we feel very comfortable accepting that Nazis don’t deserve to live, fascists don’t deserve to live, and racists don’t deserve to live. Zionists, they should not live in this world,” they said, after calling the meeting both “institutional violence” and “a joke.”

“I feel very comfortable, very comfortable, calling for the death of those people,” they said just before the stream ended.

“I don’t think students who make comments like that belong on campus,” said Brian Cohen, director of Columbia/Barnard Hillel, the center for Jewish life on campus. New York Times.

“It is one of the most egregious examples of anti-Semitism and, rightly so, rhetoric that is inconsistent with the values ​​we have at Columbia,” added Noa Fay, 23, a freshman.

‘I was especially surprised to see that it was so open.’

On Friday, Columbia students who inspired pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country said Friday they had reached a standoff with administrators and plan to continue their camp until their demands are met.

The announcement after two days of grueling negotiations came as Columbia’s president faced harsh criticism from faculty.

Professors and staff at several other universities across the country have similarly condemned leadership’s use of police against protesters, which has led to violent clashes, injuries and hundreds of arrests.

The tensions are putting pressure on school officials from California to Massachusetts, who are scrambling to resolve protests as May graduation ceremonies approach.

As the death toll in the Gaza war rises and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities across the country are demanding that schools cut financial ties with Israel and divest companies they say are enabling the conflict.

Some Jewish students say the protests have turned into anti-Semitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

Student negotiators representing the Columbia encampment said the university had not met their primary demand for divestment after meetings Thursday and Friday, although progress was being made toward more transparent financial disclosures.

“We will not rest until Columbia divests,” said Jonathan Ben-Menachem, a Jewish fourth-year PhD student.

Columbia officials had previously said the talks showed progress.

‘We have our demands; they have theirs,” university spokesman Ben Chang said, adding that if talks fail, Columbia will have to consider other options.

Meanwhile, the president of Columbia, Minouche Shafikfaced a significant — but largely symbolic — rebuke from faculty on Friday but retained the support of trustees, who have the power to hire or fire the president.

A report from the executive committee of the university’s Senate, which represents the faculty, found that Shafik and her administration “have taken many actions and decisions that have harmed Columbia University.”

These included involving the police and allowing students to be arrested without consulting faculty, failing to defend the institution under outside pressure, misrepresenting and suspending student protest groups, and hiring private investigators.

“The faculty has completely lost confidence in President Shafik’s ability to lead this organization,” said Ege Yumusak, a philosophy professor who is part of a faculty team protecting the encampment.

Following the report, the Senate passed a resolution that included a task force to monitor how the administration would make corrective changes in the future.

In response, Chang said in the evening that “we are committed to continued dialogue and appreciate the Senate’s constructive engagement in finding a path forward.”