Prof. Shai Davidai at the entrance to Columbia University
Prof. Shai Davidai, an Israeli professor lecturing at Columbia University’s Business School, was denied entry to campus on Tuesday after he announced his intention to hold a meeting in an area where pro-Palestinian protestors were demonstrating.
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Prof. Shai Davidai at the entrance to Columbia University
(Photo: AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Columbia University’s COO Cass Holloway met Prof. Davidi at the entrance and told him he wouldn't be allowed in. Davidai argued that Holloway had promised him he would be able to hold a counter-protest in a separate area, but he rejected the offer, saying it was "a continuation of six months of humiliating the Jewish community."
In a post he later published on X (formerly Twitter), Davidai criticized Hokloway's conduct, alleging he succumbed to violence and threats from protesters supporting Hamas. Among other things, he wrote, "Go f*ck yourself, Cass," and concluded, "We’re in 1938."
In an interview with Ynet, Davidai said, "I realized that I couldn't enter, and you can see the shock on my face in the photos. I'm pretty sure this is the first time that a lecturer is barred from campus because he’s Jewish since Nazi Germany. I really don't know how to internalize it."
Prof. Davidai noted, "I feel betrayed, not only by the university but also by my colleagues, good people who turn a blind eye to what's happening. I understand the dangers in the comparisons to Germany, but most professors in Germany in the 1930s were also good people who turned a blind eye to what was happening."
"No one from the university spoke to me in the past half year. New York Governor Kathy Hochul was at the university on the day they didn't let me in, met with the senior officials, and looked at the Hamas supporters on campus, but ignored the Jewish protest. They don't say 'we don't like what Israel’s doing,' they say 'we don't want Israel to exist.'”
“This isn’t criticism against Israel, it's criticism against its very existence. I support criticism of governments. I protested against the judicial overhaul and got punched by a cop. Criticizing any government is allowed, but they call for the destruction of our state,” he added.
"It makes me think a lot, but what good will it do if I run away? We can't run away all our lives. Jews always believed that the stronger the democracy, the more protected we were. But the fact that this is happening in America shows it can happen anywhere,” he said.
“It's happening not only because Hamas has taken over many campuses, but because millions of good people turn a blind eye to the situation, and that's why I'm making the comparisons to Germany."
Davidai, a lecturer in social psychology at the Columbia Business School, has voiced sharp criticism of universities in the U.S. in the past in light of pro-Palestinian protests and the harsh antisemitic incidents that have spread on campuses since the start of the Gaza war. In his confrontation at the campus entrance, he said, "They’re willing to use Jews’ brains, but not to allow Jews in."