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Columbia University has temporarily barred a vocal pro-Israel professor from campus, saying he repeatedly harassed and intimidated the school’s employees.
Shai Davidai, an assistant professor in the business school, has been a polarizing presence on campus since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas led an attack on Israel that has turned Gaza into a battlefield. He has accused Columbia of not doing enough to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which he says are broadly antisemitic and support terrorism. He often makes videos of student activists and administrators and posts them online, actions his critics say blow past the boundaries of civility and policy.
In recent days, Professor Davidai has used his X account, which has more than 100,000 followers, to accuse several student groups of supporting terrorism; posted the name and email address of a Columbia professor he suggested was “OK with rape, murder, torture and kidnapping”; and falsely called Rashid Khalidi, a respected Palestinian scholar at Columbia who is retiring, a “spokesperson for Hamas.”
Last week, on the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, Professor Davidai posted videos of himself following around Cas Holloway, the university’s chief operating officer, for several minutes with a camera and peppering him with questions about why pro-Palestinian protests were allowed on campus that day.
“How did you allow this to happen on Oct. 7?” Professor Davidai asked in the video, amid a bustling backdrop of pro-Palestinian chants and activism. He added: “You have to do your job. And I will not let you rest if they won’t let us rest.”
The school said it notified Professor Davidai of its decision on Tuesday.
Professor Davidai, an Israeli citizen, declined an interview request but posted an expletive-laden video on social media on Tuesday night in which he suggested that he would sue the university for its decision and that he was “not going anywhere.”
He said that Columbia had decided to suspend him because he “was not afraid to stand up to the hateful mob.”
The action against Professor Davidai is another sign of the struggle by Columbia and other universities to find ways to bring some sense of normalcy to campus, while allowing for protests on both sides.
Columbia, like many universities, has been under intense pressure in the last year by pro-Israel students, alumni and donors to curb pro-Palestinian activism, which they say has veered into antisemitism.
In April, as campus protests raged, Columbia banned a student activist after video surfaced of the student saying, “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” Administrators also called in the police to arrest protesters who had participated in encampments and taken over a campus building. Facing intense criticism from all sides, Nemat Shafik resigned as president of Columbia over the summer, in part because she said she found it “distressing — for the community, for me as president and on a personal level — to find myself, colleagues and students the subject of threats and abuse.”
In a statement on Tuesday night, the university said it respected Professor Davidai’s right to free speech and was not limiting it. It said that Professor Davidai had “repeatedly harassed and intimidated university employees in violation of university policy” and that it would temporarily limit his access to campus.
The statement did not specify precisely what behavior led to the decision, but university officials said Professor Davidai’s behavior toward employees on the anniversary of the attack was the cause.
The temporary restriction from campus does not affect Professor Davidai’s employment or salary. Professor Davidai, who was not teaching this semester, can continue to advise students and perform research, university officials said. He can return after he “undertakes appropriate training on our policies governing the behavior of our employees,” the statement said.
Professor Davidai’s access to campus was temporarily prohibited once before, in April, when he had planned to go to a pro-Palestinian student encampment at the center of campus and shout the names of hostages held by Hamas. He began to build his online following in the days after the Oct. 7 attack, when he gave an impassioned speech calling Dr. Shafik, the former president, a “coward” for refusing to stand up to what he called “pro-terror student organizations” on campus.
Anvee Bhutani and Sharla Steinman contributed reporting.
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