- The professors expressed concerns that students would be ‘publicly shamed’ and ‘corrupted’ for their opinions
- They defended a student-issued statement that deemed the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks “a military response by a people who had endured crushing and unrelenting state violence.”
More than a hundred Columbia University professors signed a letter defending students who tried to “recontextualize” the Hamas attacks on October 7 and called on administrators to protect them from “disturbing reverberations” on campus.
The letter, published on Monday, claims that students view the ambush within the broader context of Palestinian oppression by the Israeli government.
The professors expressed concerns about students being publicly shamed and silenced for their opinions and facing retaliation from employers.
Columbia has come under fire in recent weeks, with billionaire investor Leon Cooperman threatening to cut off donations to his alma mater over student support for Palestine.
“These blatant acts of harassment and attempts to stifle otherwise protected speech on campus are unacceptable,” Monday’s letter reads.
More than 100 professors signed a letter defending students who tried to ‘recontextualize’ the October 7 Hamas ambush
It defends those who have “expressed empathy for the lives of dignity of Palestinians,” as well as those who “signed a student-written document.” statement situating the military action that began on October 7 within the broader context of the occupation of Palestine by Israel.”
The letter argues that the student’s statement “aims to recontextualize the events.” of October 7, 2023” by pointing out that the state violence did not begin with the Hamas attacks, “but rather represented a military response by a people who had endured years of crushing and brutal state violence from an occupying power.”
Students believe that peace will be unattainable “unless the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory ends and accountability for that illegal occupation is achieved,” the professors wrote.
They added that this was “not a radical or substantively controversial view” as supported by the United Nations and human rights organizations.
“One of the core responsibilities of a world-class university is to interrogate the underlying facts of both established propositions and those that are hotly contested,” the letter ends.
The letter, published Monday, raises concerns about students who have been publicly shamed or are at risk of retaliation from employers.
It claims that students are “vilified for voicing perspectives that, while legitimately discussed in other institutional contexts, expose them to serious forms of harassment and intimidation at Columbia.”
“These core academic values and goals are profoundly undermined when our students are vilified for expressing perspectives that, while legitimately discussed in other institutional contexts, expose them to serious forms of harassment and intimidation at Columbia.”
The message ends with a request for the school to reverse a decision to establish curricular and research programs in Israel – echoing a demand made last year by more than 100 Columbia faculty.
The professors also urged that the university stop issuing statements that “privilege the suffering and death of Israelis or Jews over the suffering and death of Palestinians, and/or that fail to recognize how challenging these times have been for all students, not just some. ‘