By now everyone has seen the photos of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic students at Columbia blocking passage to Jewish students to the campus and its buildings. These images are reminiscent of the infamous photo of Nazis blocking the steps of the University of Vienna in Austria.
The similarities are jarring.
Hundreds of Columbia University faculty and graduate student workers protested on campus against the decision to deploy police, who arrested over 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators. The protesters, rallying outside the university’s only open entrance, carried signs opposing police presence on campus and demanding the resignation of the university president, Minouche Shafik.
This occurred amidst heightened security, with the campus closed for a second day during the pre-finals period, limiting access to resident students and essential workers.
The NYPD reported nearly 300 arrests at Columbia and City College on Tuesday, coinciding with clashes at UCLA between opposing groups as protests related to Israel’s actions in Gaza spread across U.S. universities. The arrests in New York mainly targeted demonstrators from a central administration building and associated encampments at Columbia, which had been focal points for nationwide protests.
At the same time, halfway across the globe, Colombia has announced it would sever ties with Israel over the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday he will break diplomatic relations with Israel over its actions in Gaza.
Petro has already heavily criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and requested to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice.
“Here in front of you, the government of change, of the president of the republic announces that tomorrow we will break diplomatic relations with the state of Israel … for having a government, for having a president who is genocidal,” Petro told cheering crowds in Bogota, according to a report in Reuters.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Petro of being “antisemitic and full of hate”. He said Petro’s move was a reward to the terrorist group Hamas, which on Oct. 7 led a deadly attack on Israeli military bases and communities, raping, killing, and kidnapping innocent civilians and soldiers.
What Columbia and Colombia have in common is that both ignore the facts and rely on lies and misinformation as a basis for their false accusations against Israel and the IDF. In addition, they demonstrate a false interest in the Palestinian cause when in reality it is simply a façade for their hatred for Israel and the Jewish people.
The Left says “Believe all women” – except for raped Jewish women.
The Left says “We need safe spaces for minorities” but chases Jews off campus.
The Left says “Micro-aggressions are terrible” but a violent intifada against Jews is
acceptable.
The Left says “Labeling someone with the wrong pronouns is insulting” but it is okay to call Jews apartheid, Zionist Nazis.
See the hypocrisy?
These university students are not liberal – rather they are closeminded useful idiots for Hamas.
Petro takes this anti-Semitism to an entirely new level by severing ties with Israel. Raging university students are one thing. Countries siding with Hamas terrorists is another.
Let’s hope the university students who committed crimes are prosecuted to the full extent of the law and are punished accordingly.
And let’s hope Colombia’s actions do not become the norm and other countries recognize the danger and hypocrisy of isolating Israel.
From Columbia to Colombia, now is the time to stand with Israel – not against it.
