Rabbi Eli Buechler, the director of the OU-JLIC at Columbia/Barnard, is urging students to leave campus and go home due to growing threats of anti-Jewish violence by pro-Hamas provocateurs on the university’s campus.

The move comes after  Jewish students and the Chabad rabbi of Columbia University were forced to leave the campus for their safety during a pro-Hamas demonstration on Motzei Shabbos. The protesters, who had erected 60 tents on campus on Wednesday, chanted anti-Israel slogans and threatened violence against Jewish students.

According to video footage posted on social media, the protesters attempted to break through the campus gate, chanting “Break da lock,” “Someone torch it,” and “Pick the lock.” They also shouted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “There is only one solution, Intifada revolution.”

The protesters targeted Jewish students, calling them “Al-Qassam’s next targets” in reference to the military wing of Hamas. One protester yelled, “Remember the 7th of October!” – a reference to the Hamas massacre of October 7 – and threatened that it would happen “10,000 times.”

The Columbia Jewish Alumni Association wrote to university president Minouche Shafik, warning that the ongoing protests were creating an unsafe environment for Jewish students and that violence was likely. They called on Shafik to take “all possible steps to protect Jewish safety.”

The university has faced heavy criticism for its handling of the situation. A congressional hearing on Wednesday highlighted the issue, with several congressmen criticizing the university for allowing professors who have celebrated the October 7 attack to continue teaching.

The university claims that it is balancing free speech and the right to protest with the need to protect Jewish students’ safety. However, it is obvious to everyone that more needs to be done to address the issue of antisemitism on campus.

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