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Columbia University has barred vocal pro-Israel faculty member Shai Davidai from campus because of unspecified conduct on Oct. 7, 2024—the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israelis, when there were demonstrations on campus.
“Because Assistant Professor Davidai repeatedly harassed and intimidated university employees in violation of university policy, we have temporarily limited his access to campus while he undertakes appropriate training on our policies governing the behavior of our employees, ” a university spokesperson wrote in an email. The spokesperson said, “This is not about one isolated incident.”
The university expects “Davidai will successfully complete the training and promptly return to campus,” the spokesperson said. Davidai told Inside Higher Ed he hasn’t decided whether to do the training.
“I don’t believe that people who don’t do anything wrong deserve punishment, so I’m in a pickle,” Davidai said.
Davidai, a tenure-track assistant professor of management, said the university hasn’t told him what specific conduct he’s been kicked off campus for. But he said he thinks it’s because he “called out” Bobby Lau, the assistant public safety director for the Morningside campus, and Cas Holloway, the chief operating officer, for allowing “a pro-Hamas march on campus” on Oct. 7 outside where those demonstrations were supposed to be held.
Jewish students had organized a memorial service on campus on the anniversary of the Hamas attack, and “pro-Hamas” protesters were demonstrating in a designated space next to them, but then they started marching, Davidai said. “That’s when I called foul and videotaped the administrators at the university and they retaliated,” he said.
He posted the videos to his social media channels; he has over 100,000 followers on X alone. In one, he told Holloway, “You have to do your job. And I will not let you rest if they won’t let us rest. You have Israeli students crying.” In another video posted online, not by Davidai himself, he tells Lau, “You are such a useless administrator. But you know what, there were so many useless administrators in Nazi Germany, and you know what? After the war, they said they did everything they could.”
