A HEART-FELT LETTER BY A COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR DENOUNCING ANTISEMITISM

As most of you know, recently several universities have been exposed as hotbeds of antisemitism among both the faculty and students. One of those is Columbia University. However, not all faculty and students there are anti-Semites. Not all of them hue to the party line. One brave professor, who is not tenured, has determined to speak out and express his true feelings in an open letter, even though they run counter to the prevalent attitude at his college and may cause his termination. One of my readers sent me a copy of his letter, and I am repeating it verbatim. He deserves to be heard.

• Letter by a Columbia Professor with a conscience.
• ” I am an assistant professor at Columbia Business School.  I am a father, a husband, an uncle, and a son.  I am a forty-year-old man, and last week I found myself crying in front of a group of complete strangers. In a video that has since gone viral, I stood on Columbia University’s main campus and pleaded with my employer to protect me and help me protect the thousands of Jewish students whose lives and safety have been entrusted to us by worried parents all across the United States. I pleaded with my employer to help me protect the lives of thousands of Jewish students from pro-terror student organizations who openly laud Hamas—an internationally recognized terrorist organization.
• I pleaded with the presidents of colleges and universities all around the country to take a clear moral stance against rape and torture and the kidnapping of helpless civilians. I pleaded with colleges and universities to live up to their stated mission of humanism and enlightenment.  I pleaded—and still plead—because the silence of college presidents all across the country is deafening. I am not tenured.  I could be fired for this. But my research into behavioral psychology has taught me I can’t afford not to take a stance. Not when students’ lives are on the line. Not when my children’s lives are on the line. My children may be American citizens, but, through their mother and me, they are Israelis, too. And because they are Israelis, because they are Jews, I fear for them. I fear for my two-year-old daughter, who’s funny and brave and thinks everyone in the world is her friend. I fear for my seven-year-old son, who still asks me to sit next to his bed for a few minutes every night when I tuck him into bed. I fear, because there are student organizations on my own campus who see my beautiful children as legitimate targets.
• I fear, because the president of my university—my very own employer—refuses to speak up against such senseless violence and hatred. Let’s call this what it is. This is cowardice. .I see my son’s and daughter’s faces in the faces of the hundreds of innocent children and teenagers who were murdered, tortured, raped, brutalized, and kidnapped on October 7th. For Hamas and its supporters, those children are acceptable targets. And right now, in colleges and universities all across the country, there are hundreds of pro-terror student organizations that are celebrating these vile crimes against humanity. This is what the President of Columbia is refusing to condemn.  This is what the President of Harvard is refusing to condemn.  This is what the Presidents of Yale and NYU and UC Berkeley and many other “enlightened” institutions throughout the country are refusing to condemn. They would never allow student organizations to celebrate the senseless loss of life in the horrific attacks of 9/11. They would never allow student organizations to celebrate the horrific murder of George Floyd. They would never allow student organizations to celebrate the mass shooting of more than 100 LGBTQ+ people in an Orlando nightclub on June 12, 2016. And yet, when it comes to Jewish lives—when it comes to my own children’s lives—they could care less.
• Let me be as clear as I can: This is not about being pro-Israel or pro-Palestine. This is about making a clear distinction between legitimate resistance and unspeakable crimes against humanity. This is about human decency. You can support the rights of millions of innocent Palestinians and still take a moral stance against heinous violence and brutality. I know, because I do. You can spend your adult life advocating for the establishment of a prosperous Palestinian state next to a prosperous Israeli state and still be willing to draw the line at rape. I know, because I do. You can be a lefty and a softy who can’t fathom why we can’t just end this senseless cycle of violence yet still shout at the top of your lungs that shooting babies in their cribs and burning their corpses is just plain evil. Plain plain evil. I know, because I am, and I do. You can be pro-Israel and pro-Palestine and anti-terror. I know, because I am.
• Parents from all across the country have reached out to me in the past week asking if their kids are safe. Thousands of worried parents who have been losing sleep as they see their children’s campuses rampaged by extremist organizations that openly celebrate and encourage terrorism. Thousands of moms and dads who only want to make sure that their children are protected from harm. To all those parents, I reply: No.  Your children are not safe. Because, as a professor, I can tell you that universities across the country would rather appease pro-terror campus coalitions than care for their Jewish students. Because, as a professor, I can tell you that the presidents of universities all across the U.S. are more concerned with getting bad press than with getting your children home safely.
• What sort of education is your child getting at a place that refuses to condemn terror-sympathizing organizations and allows them to roam freely on campus? What sort of education is your child getting at a place that gives a platform and a mix to organizations that celebrate the execution of infants in their cribs? The raping of teenagers? The kidnapping of toddlers?
• The moral and intellectual bankruptcy of universities throughout the country is now undeniable. But I know that if we all work together we can make a real difference. This is not about me.  I’m not some leader.  I’m just a dad. I’m just a dad who is scared and who is willing to put EVERYTHING on the line to protect his children.
• Many of you have reached out in the past days, and your messages have brought me immense light into a very dark time. I am so extremely inspired by the stories people have been sending me. People are telling me about the committees they’ve formed and the PTAs they’ve joined and the politicians they’ve called and TV and radio shows to which they have called-in, demanding that their voice be heard. People have written to me about stopping their annual donations to their alma mater until it takes a clear stance against pure evil. Until it takes a clear stance against those who celebrate pure evil.
• If you want to get in touch and let me know about all that you have, are, and will be doing at your job, school, alma mater, neighborhood, and so forth, please email me at:shaidavidai2023@gmail.com (mailto:shaidavidai2023@gmail.com)Please help me spread this message. PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN. One more thing — If you have read thus far, I imagine that it must be because you are someone who cares deeply about this. So I have a small request: If every person who read thus far personally sent this to at least 10 of their friends RIGHT NOW and asked those friends to send this to 10 of their friends, I know that we will be able to make a big difference in the world.  I truly do. (and if I’m wrong well, hey at least we will all know that in this time of crisis we did everything that we could). I know it’s weird, but can I please ask you to email this to all your friends and post it on all your social media profiles? I really just want the message to get through. Thank you!”

Below please find my reply.

I just received a copy of your letter.  I was very touched by your commentary.  You wrote with such passion!  We are probably from different sides of the political spectrum, but on this topic I agree with you 100%.  How could any decent person not do so?  I respect you for taking such a powerful stand even though the pinheads who run your university may terminate your employment because of it. 

I am a 78-year-old Jew as well as a husband, a father and a grandfather.  I, too, am very concerned about what the future may hold for my kids and grandkids, particularly my grandkids who are 16 and 13 and will soon be attending college.  

In addition, I am a blogger. My blogs are published in The Times of Israel, but primarily I write as a hobby, not for profit.  I blog about many topics, but lately I have focused on antisemitism in the US and the world at-large.  I have written some strong language condemning antisemitism and supporting Israel.  I am too old to fight. This is how I make my contribution. I am hopeful that people reading my blogs will become cognizant of our point of view.

I am providing you with a link to my blogs in case you are interested.  I would appreciate and welcome your comments. I will include your letter in my next blog (anonymously).  In addition to the TOI they are disseminated to some 100 persons in some 20 countries. Keep up the good fight!

CONCLUSION

We need more people with the courage, conviction and conscience to speak up. Yesterday’s demonstration in Washington, DC was great, but we cannot sit back and rest. We need more of the same. This war will be won in the court of public opinion as well as on the battlefield. Israel and Jews the world over are in a fight for our very survival. Our enemies are vicious, barbaric and determined. Their oft-stated goal is not merely to defeat us, but to annihilate us. We need to continue the fight.