Columbia University is embroiled in controversy after pro-Palestinian students were sprayed with skunk water during a protest. The students allege a sustained hostile environment for Palestinian, Muslim, and pro-Palestinian students. The university has been criticized for its handling of the incident, with some accusing it of being unresponsive and fostering a hostile environment. The NYPD is investigating the incident, and there are calls for accountability from the university's president. The fallout has sparked debates about free speech and restrictions on speech surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict. In a related incident, Princeton University is also facing criticism for improper use of no-contact orders against student journalists. At Stanford University, anti-Jewish protesters were reported to have verbally accosted Jewish students. The incidents have reignited concerns about rising antisemitism on college campuses.
Students at Columbia University are furious with the administration after eight students were hospitalised after an attack with an illegal chemical-based weapon, known as skunk water, during a Gaza rally https://t.co/oTnm6NMKzy
#BREAKING: Footage shows anti-Jewish protesters at Stanford screaming “go back to Brooklyn” at Jewish students. https://t.co/q67ZkkDe0o
Princeton is letting students who dislike student reporting slap the journalist with a no-contact order, without a modicum of due process, and where the reporter has done nothing wrong. And by the way, this has been going on, and Princeton's known about it, for OVER a year. https://t.co/SMrlONQYTd
WATCH: Last night, during a forum with Stanford University's leadership meant to address the rise of antisemitism on campus, demonstrators outside shouted "go back to Brooklyn!," "Zionists you can't hide!" and "Israel will fall!" Jewish students on campus are already… https://t.co/MaNC4RpuAH
"Go back to Brooklyn!" "We will ensure Israel will fall and America too!" "You are either a nazi sympathizer or are naïve" Pro Palestinian radical caught mid tirade verbally accosting Jewish students at @Stanford University 🎥 @StopAntisemites https://t.co/oi65L72qCI
"Go back to Brooklyn!" "We will ensure Israel will fall and America too!" "You are either a nazi sympathizer or are naïve" Pro Palestinian radical caught mid tirade verbally accosting Jewish students at Stanford University. https://t.co/9pc38uKXZ9
JUST SENT: FIRE and the @ADL are challenging @Princeton’s ongoing improper use of no-contact orders, allowing them to be weaponized against student journalists. https://t.co/MiVnYZNLHV
Crazy world: @Columbia University is permitting a protest, right in the middle of its campus, advocating for the destruction of the state of Israel 🇮🇱 by violent revolution! The group which is protesting was previously banned from campus. https://t.co/z7lmJ3XDaP
Columbia students walk out of class, seek end to Tel Aviv University program after chemical spray attack “Minouche Shafik, you must pay! Medical bills are on the way!” students chanted in videos posted to social media. Shafik is Columbia’s president. https://t.co/smhvVVOC9d
When I attended @Columbia as an undergrad in the 80s, it was a haven for brilliant Jewish intellectuals. Now, it's become a breeding ground for vicious antisemitism & Jihadist sympathizers -- with the support & protection of the new university president, Egyptian-born Minouche… https://t.co/CB2YcDpqR1
Right now at @Columbia: An UNAUTHORIZED pro-Hamas protest By refusing to hold the organizers accountable, Columbia is sending a big fuck you to every Jewish and Israeli student, faculty, or staff. The President of Columbia needs to be held accountable. (thread w/ videos)
Free speech fallout continues as more universities apply vague restrictions on speech surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict. Join FIRE in urging @Stanford, @Yale, @Cornell, @Columbia, and @SUNY to rethink their decisions to censor student expression! https://t.co/Ddx9fc6QUb
Hey @Columbia — really? Permitting a protest right in the middle of your campus advocating the destruction of Israel by violent revolution? From groups previously banned from campus? I am sickened by this! https://t.co/pFv4J0QUPN
NYPD investigating after apparent attack on pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University https://t.co/0I4bZxyWr0 https://t.co/1AaMX1HPe3
"[The attack] did not happen in a vacuum, but in a sustained hostile environment for Palestinian, Muslim, and pro-Palestinian students fostered by the school for months" - Maryam Alwan, Columbia student https://t.co/5SiXcCqAAi
Don’t care whose side, physically or chemically attacking people exercising their right to free speech is wrong and must be deterred. “At Columbia, Student Protesters Say They Were Attacked With Chemicals” https://t.co/qkIRTeoah6
Columbia University students say they have not been given any support after being sprayed with skunk water at a pro-Palestine protest. SJP Columbia student Maryam Alwan says that police were present "without doing anything to protect the protestors" https://t.co/MWxVjFNcb8
Columbia Uni bars people accused of spraying pro-Palestine protesters https://t.co/8HLqTI6skk
🔵Columbia students recount spray attack at pro-Palestinian protest Smelled like “raw sewage and decaying carcass,” students and faculty told the Daily News. “It felt like the university was unresponsive to what happened and there was a lot of denial.” https://t.co/K2pGqy8fNX
Speaking to MEE, SJP Columbia student Maryam Alwan says the recent skunk water attack "did not happen in a vacuum, but in a sustained hostile environment for Palestinian, Muslim, and pro-Palestinian students fostered by the school for months" https://t.co/TPMBzdXuZI
Israel is opening another front — against students at Columbia University. https://t.co/Xgv3rH5m93