A task force investigating antisemitism at Columbia detailed troubling experiences shared by Jewish students on campus
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The Columbia University task force on campus antisemitism has reported a string of disturbing incidents at the Ivy League university, exposing what it characterized as the "harassment of Jewish students" and antisemitic remarks made by professors – including one who reportedly told his class to avoid the mainstream media because "it is owned by Jews."
Task force members who spoke with Israeli publication Haaretz described a pattern of anti-Jewish bias at the Manhattan university, which has been plagued by anti-Israel protests since the October 7th Hamas massacre.
Jewish and Israeli students regularly felt "targeted and ostracized" on campus, and were often singled out in the classroom, task force members told the paper.
"One professor encountering a Jewish-sounding surname while reading names before an exam asked the student to explain their views on the Israeli government's actions in Gaza," the paper reported, citing members of the task force.
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Student protesters march around their encampment on the Columbia University campus, Monday, April 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Another professor reportedly "revealed a student's complaint about an offensive comment regarding Jews by publicly displaying their email to fellow students."
The report also found that professors repeatedly encouraged students to take part in the anti-Israel protests or Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Some even offered extra credit or conducted classes at the protest site, according to Haaretz.
"Other incidents included students wearing Jewish symbols having them torn from their person. Some were pushed out of student clubs they had been part of because they did not want to participate in group actions and statements against Israel's right to exist," the report reads.
The examples listed are just "a few" of the hundreds of testimonies collected by the task force, which describe a pattern of "harassment, intimidation, discrimination and exclusion against Jewish students by professors and fellow students at the New York university," Haaretz wrote.
The task force, which was formed last November and issued its first report in March, reportedly conducted over 20 listening sessions at the university and heard from approximately 500 students, collecting hundreds of cases of Jewish students feeling discriminated against, they told the publication.
The Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University in NYC. (Peter Gerber)
Haaretz said it plans to release some of the testimonies in the coming weeks to spotlight the plight of Jewish students at the Ivy League university.
Professor Gil Zussman, an Israeli electric engineering professor, told The New York Post that he has witnessed "clear discrimination against Israeli students and Jews" on campus. "They’ve been targeted from the beginning by demonstrators," he said.
Zussman also confirmed that at least two professors that he knows of brought their classes to the anti-Israel encampments, as indicated in the report.
Jewish Columbia students credited the task force for spotlighting the hostility they experienced over the last several months on campus, but acknowledged that despite the troubling discoveries, they were skeptical Columbia faculty would take any action to improve the matter.
Anti-Israel agitators construct an encampment on Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Peter Gerber)
"I am grateful for the discoveries made by the antisemitism task force at Columbia. However, I have a sense that their work is not going to be fully appreciated by the administration," a rising senior at the university, who asked to be identified only as Jessica for fear of retribution, told Fox News Digital.
She said she fears Columbia is "incapable" of addressing rising campus hostility after she and other Jewish students were repeatedly met with "radio silence" when voicing concerns for their safety on campus.
Another student, Avi, said he was outraged over the professors' comments, highlighting the remark relating to Jews owning the media, as detailed in the report.
"There should be no reason in an academic institution, which is supposed to foster free thinking, that a professor should espouse hate and ever speak that way in and out of the classroom," he told Fox News Digital.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 02: Protesters demonstrate near Columbia University on February 02, 2024 in New York City. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
He said he didn't expect the university to take any kind of action to improve the experience of Jewish students on campus, adding plainly, "I lost faith in the faculty months ago."
"They have already set a precedent of failing to respond to antisemitic incidents on campus," he said. "They have given free rein to the mob."
Columbia's Office of Public Affairs did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Yael Halon is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
