columbia university professors pro palestine protest Columbia University professors have played significant roles in pro-Palestine protests through physical demonstrations, legal challenges against university and federal policies, and high-profile departures. In 2025, the focus has shifted toward resisting federal oversight and the targeting of student activists for deportation. Major Faculty Actions & Demonstrations Encampment Blockades: In April 2024, faculty members formed a human chain in front of the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" to prevent administrators and police from dismantling it. Academic Boycotts: The "Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine" (FSJP) coalition called for an academic boycott of all events, including commencement ceremonies, until the university met demands for divestment and the lifting of student suspensions. No-Confidence Votes: Faculty groups expressed "broad support" for no-confidence votes against top administrators, including former President Minouche Shafik and the board of trustees, for their handling of campus protests. Protests Against Federal Oversight (2025): In March and April 2025, faculty held rallies and pickets to protest the university's "capitulation" to Trump administration demands, which included a $400 million federal funding cut and calls to place the Middle East Studies department under "academic receivership". High-Profile Professor Involvement Katherine Franke (Law): A prominent tenured law professor who retired in January 2025 after a university investigation found her media comments—specifically those criticizing students who had served in the IDF—violated anti-discrimination policies. She described the university as a "toxic and hostile environment". Michael Thaddeus (Mathematics): A lead organizer of 2025 faculty pickets defending academic freedom and protesting the detention of student leaders like Mahmoud Khalil. Joseph Massad (MESAAS): A professor of Palestinian and Israeli politics who has faced repeated calls for removal. In 2025, a petition for his firing garnered nearly 80,000 signatures, and a colleague resigned in protest of Massad's continued teaching. Jennifer J. Manly (Neuropsychology): Identified as a participant in human blockades at the April 2024 encampments. Legal & Institutional Challenges Lawsuit Against Federal Interference: In March 2025, faculty members and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to block what they termed an "unlawful and unprecedented effort" to control academic autonomy and thought. Support for Targeted Students: Faculty have actively protested the detention and deportation proceedings of international students, such as Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, who were targeted for their roles in the protests. Inter-Faculty Conflict: While many professors support pro-Palestine students, others, such as Shai Davidai, have been outspokenly pro-Israel. Davidai was temporarily barred from campus in 2024 for alleged harassment of university staff and student protesters.
-
-
-
-
AntisemitismCanada In 2026, Tulsa And Panama Are Courting Canadian Jews As Antisemitism Redefines The Cost Of Staying As antisemitism reaches unprecedented levels across Canada, Jewish families and professionals are quietly reassessing their futures, and some are being actively courted elsewhere. Ron East By: Ron East December 31, 2025 SHARE A growing number of Canadian Jews are exploring relocation options A growing number of Canadian Jews are exploring relocation options as antisemitism intensifies and confidence in public protection erodes. (Image: Illustration.) TORONTO — For generations, Canada sold itself as a country where Jews could thrive without constantly looking over their shoulders. That assumption no longer holds for a growing number of Canadian Jews, particularly in the aftermath of October 7 and the months that followed. What has changed is not only the number of antisemitic incidents. It is the atmosphere. Public hostility has been normalized. Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centres operate under permanent security protocols. Anti-Jewish intimidation is increasingly framed as political expression. Enforcement is inconsistent. Accountability is rare. When Jewish life requires constant risk assessment, mobility stops being a luxury. It becomes a rational act of self-preservation. That reality helps explain why, in 2026, two very different destinations, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Panama, are appearing with growing frequency in serious conversations among Canadian Jews who have the means and flexibility to move. This is not a panic migration. It is a strategic recalculation. Canada’s new warning lights Jewish Canadians represent a small fraction of the population, yet account for a vastly disproportionate share of reported hate crimes. This is not a perception problem. It is a documented pattern. More troubling than the statistics themselves is the message many Jews hear in response: concern, sympathy, and context, but little deterrence. Protests that spill into harassment are tolerated. Jewish institutions are targeted repeatedly. Antisemitism disguised as antizionism is parsed endlessly rather than confronted directly. The result is a slow erosion of confidence in the state’s willingness or ability to enforce equal protection. When a community moves from assuming it belongs to hoping nothing happens today, the social contract has already been fractured. It is within this context that Tulsa and Panama are not merely attracting attention but actively courting. Lech Le’Tulsa and intentional Jewish welcome Tulsa is not presenting itself as a refuge city. It is presenting itself as a place that wants Jewish life to grow. In 2026, that effort has taken concrete form through Lech Le’Tulsa, a Jewish-focused relocation initiative designed to attract Jewish families, professionals, and entrepreneurs to the Tulsa area. The program combines relocation assistance with intentional community building and access to Jewish infrastructure. The name is deliberate. Lech Lecha, the biblical call to go forth and build a future, is not branding by accident. It speaks directly to a Jewish historical instinct that understands movement not as retreat, but as agency. Lech Le’Tulsa offers what many Canadian Jews increasingly feel is missing at home: A clear signal that Jewish presence is welcomed, not merely accommodated Immediate access to synagogues, schools, and Jewish communal life A civic environment where Jewish identity is not treated as a liability The financial incentives matter, but the social architecture matters more. Tulsa is offering a landing ramp. It is saying, we are prepared for you to arrive. That clarity stands in stark contrast to the ambiguity Canadian Jews experience when their safety concerns are acknowledged but endlessly deferred. Panama and the appeal of optionality Panama represents a different but equally rational response to insecurity. For Canadian Jews with international mobility, Panama offers residency pathways tied to investment, business activity, or long-term economic contribution. It also offers something increasingly valuable: optionality. Panama has an established Jewish community, a comparatively lower cost of living, and an immigration framework that openly courts skilled and capital-carrying residents. For some, it is a permanent relocation. For others, it is a second base, a contingency plan, or a future passport pathway. What matters is not the destination itself, but the logic behind the choice. When Jews seek second options, they are not rejecting diaspora life. They are applying historical lessons. Jewish continuity has always depended on redundancy, resilience, and the ability to move before crisis becomes catastrophe. The Zionist lens Canadians prefer to ignore Zionism does not deny the legitimacy of diaspora life. It insists that Jews must never be dependent on the goodwill of others for safety or equality. That lesson was written in blood long before the modern State of Israel existed. Israel institutionalized it at a national level. Individual Jews apply it on a personal level. When Canadian Jews explore Tulsa or Panama, they are not abandoning Canada in anger. They are responding rationally to warning signs. They are building leverage. They are ensuring their children have options. This is what Zionist consciousness looks like outside Israel. It is quiet, pragmatic, and unsentimental. An indictment Canada should take seriously Tulsa and Panama are not superior societies. They are intentional ones. Tulsa is saying, we want contributors, and we are prepared to integrate them. Panama is saying, we want residents and investment, and we have clear legal pathways. Canada, too often, is saying something else entirely: we are sorry you feel unsafe, but the politics are complicated. A serious country does not treat antisemitism as a public relations challenge. It treats it as a threat to civic order. That requires enforcement, deterrence, and moral clarity, including the willingness to name antisemitism even when it hides behind fashionable political language. Until that happens, Canada should not be surprised when Jews quietly explore exit ramps. The bottom line In 2026, the fact that Tulsa and Panama can plausibly court Canadian Jews is not an oddity. It is a warning. When antisemitism reaches levels that fundamentally alter how Jews calculate their futures, movement becomes strategy. History teaches Jews to act before apologies arrive too late. Canada still has time to reverse this trajectory. But time matters. And Jews, having learned this lesson repeatedly, are no longer inclined to wait.
-
-
-
-
-
-
No comments:
Post a Comment