Columbia Does Not Consider The Mental Health Of Jews

On April 30, 2024, while many pro-Hamas students at Columbia University chanted for an “intifada revolution” to destroy the Jewish State and kill diaspora Jews, and as other students broke into and took over one of the school buildings, the university issued a statement about the takeover being disruptive and “a noisy distraction that interferes with teaching.” In taking action, the university said “this is about responding to the actions of the protestors, not their cause.” The full statement is here:

Early this morning, a group of protestors occupied Hamilton Hall on the Morningside Campus. We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions. Our top priority is restoring safety and order on our campus.
We made it very clear yesterday the work of the University cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules. Continuing to do so will be met with clear consequences. Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation–vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances–and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday.
Students occupying the building face expulsion.
Protesters were informed that their participation in the encampment violated numerous university policies. We gave everyone at the encampment the opportunity to leave peacefully. By committing to abide by University policies, they would be allowed to complete the semester.
Students who did not commit to the terms we offered are now being suspended. Those students will be restricted from all academic and recreational spaces and may only access their individual residence. Seniors will be ineligible to graduate.
This is about responding to the actions of the protesters, not their cause.
As we said yesterday, disruptions on campus have created a threatening environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty and a noisy distraction that interferes with teaching, learning, and preparing for final exams, and contributes to a hostile environment in violation of Title VI.
The safety of our community remains our top priority.
As we prepare for a commencement to honor our students’ achievements, we continue to urge the protesters to remove the encampment and voluntarily disperse so as to not deprive their fellow students of this momentous occasion.
We have followed through on our very clear warnings of consequences and are initiating disciplinary action against those who continue to violate our rules.

*An “Intifada” banner waves over Columbia University after students seize Hamilton Hall on 116th Street in New York City, April 30, 2024. (photo: JESSICA SCHWALB)*

Imagine the university downplaying racism if students chanted that gay people should be kicked off campus or Hispanics should be sent to wherever they came from. What if people chanted that Muslims are pathological killers and the United States should bomb Iran and neighboring Muslim countries out of existence. Imagine thousands of students denying that Black people were ever slaves in America and inventing an entire new origin story for African-Americans in the center of campus.

Would protestors’ free speech rights be prioritized? Would the university’s statements be packed with excuses that the school does not have any issue with the protestors chants? Or would the university clearly denounce the slogans and give priority to the mental health of the targets of the venom?

Columbia University well understands mental health and has a page on its website devoted to it called CopeColumbia. One section is devoted towards “Racism, Stress and Coping.” It discusses systemic racism faced by African-Americans, and impacts on health outcomes. It is copied here – except edited to address rampant Jew-hatred taking place at Columbia today – to show the disparity in how little the universe has extended itself for its Jewish faculty and student body.

The stress and trauma of ~~racism~~ antisemitism in our society for ~~communities of color~~ Jews is informed by a long history of violence and social injustice. Provided here are resources centered around ~~racial~~ religious disparities and promoting healing, growth, and avenues for change.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated significant health disparities for ~~Black and Latinx~~ Jewish communities in the U.S. Populations ~~of color~~ have been vilified as having caused and profited from ~~contracted~~ COVID-19 ~~at higher rates than White individuals; with greater morbidity and mortality~~.^1,2 We are learning that systemic ~~racism~~ antisemitism is a major factor in these disparate outcomes: a disproportionate number of ~~African-American and Latino~~ Jewish individuals work in settings in the medical profession ~~that are high risk for exposure,~~ and they are more likely to be accused of profiting from the pandemic and medical treatment rather than thanked for efforts to turn back the global scourge of ~~lack medical insurance, the means to be tested for coronavirus, to be adequately treated for underlying conditions, or to receive early treatment for~~ COVID-19.²

The stress and trauma of ~~racism~~ antisemitism in our society for communities of ~~color~~ faith is informed by a long history of violence and social injustice. The effects of systemic ~~racism~~ antisemitism, especially on ~~African-Americans~~ Jews in our country, permeates our society with consequences including negative outcomes for physical and mental well-being. Images, media portrayals and public discourse have triggered post-traumatic stress symptoms across in many of us, with the heaviest toll being that on ~~racial~~ the very small Jewish minorities. Protests have sparked a discussion most feel is long overdue to address the effects of oppression on ~~African-Americans~~ Jews after the senseless murders ~~of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor~~ in the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue, Poway Synagogue and kosher store in Jersey City. We are aware that these conversations, although emotionally charged, are necessary for change; take courage and bravery to achieve a more ~~racially~~ religiously just society.

The ~~mental~~ emotional health effects of ~~racism~~ antisemitism are vast. The inability for communities of ~~color~~ faith to access ~~mental health~~ protective resources creates a barrier to basic safety ~~the path of treatment and recovery~~. Lack of ~~resources~~ a sizable population coupled with diminished political clout ~~distrust of the medical field due to past transgressions towards African-Americans, in particular, and the stigma associated with mental health treatment in communities of color~~ create a perfect storm for untreated intergenerational ~~mental health~~ physical and emotional illness.”

Columbia University understands that Jewish students on campus are deeply traumatized not only by the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust on October 7 in Israel, but that the barbarity is celebrated by Columbia faculty and students who gleefully taunt them as they try to attend class. While the school makes efforts to systematically change the school’s culture and curricula to address the mental and emotional impacts of racism, it dismisses vulgar antisemitic slogans as “a noisy distraction that interferes with teaching, learning, and preparing for final exams.“

Antisemitism is so deeply entrenched in America’s universities, they cannot even pause to recognize Jewish trauma even as they haul away protestors looking to destroy the Jewish State.