An imam from Utica, New York, called to “take out” a prominent pro-Israel professor at Columbia University, sparking widespread backlash. The imam, Tom Facchine, made the comment against Professor Shai Davidai during a webinar titled “Islamic Political Activism,” hosted by the Columbia University branch of Students for Justice in Palestine.
“If you’re able to take out somebody like that and make an example, that might shut up a hundred more,” Facchine said during the online event. The video of his remarks was later removed from Instagram, which also permanently banned the video from its platform, according to a report by The College Fix, a publication that covers higher education and campus news.
Davidai posted a segment of the video to his X account, drawing further attention to Facchine’s comments. “That Shai Davidai guy: How do we get him in trouble? How do we create a situation in which he’s in jeopardy,” Facchine was recorded as saying during the webinar.
Facchine, 35, originally from New Jersey, has had a roller coaster religious and ideological journey. Educated at Vassar College, he left Christianity, became an atheist, and then a Marxist before converting to Islam in 2010.
In response to the incident, Columbia University initiated an investigation into Facchine’s comments, enlisting outside security experts to assess the situation. According to Gerald Lewis, the university’s vice president of public safety, the investigation concluded that Facchine’s rhetoric “did not create conditions that require enhanced security measures.”
“I will not be silenced—I know I’m speaking the truth. It feels like they put a target on my back with the explicit goal to take me down, to get me fired, to make up complaints about me,” Davidai said in response to the imam’s remarks.
Davidai has been in the spotlight since October last year when he gained attention for a viral video in which he criticized Columbia University for failing to protect Jewish students from terrorism-supporting groups on campus. In the video, he vowed never to send his daughter to Columbia due to what he perceived as the university’s lack of action against pro-terrorism organizations.
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6 Responses
Typical democrat voter
It is weird that he looks so Jewish. And even the sound of his voice and accent sound like a frum person.
Let’s see how Columbia University is going to react.
Is that also “free speech”🤨
That is for sure taken out of context. I’m not saying anything about his credibility. I am saying I’d like to see the original footage please
Funny, as soon as I saw the headline implying that an imam called for a professor to be assassinated, I KNEW that it was hyperbole, and that he probably just called for him to be fired.
The video confirmed my assumption.
Danymes, yes, of course it’s free speech. How could it not be? That’s not even a question. The only question Columbia had was whether it needed to strengthen its security in response, and it concluded that it doesn’t need to.
Raerae, it’s not taken out of context. The article is clear about what the imam said: that Davidai was to be targeted and got into trouble with the university, with the aim of getting him fired and so putting the fear of Allah into all other university faculty that might think of speaking out against these thugs. Of course he has every right to say that, but it exposes what these people are about.
Menachem, there was no implication that he was advocating murder. Though even if he were, that would also be free speech.