Outspoken Columbia business professor Shai Davidi was banned from campus after clashing with unruly anti-Israel protesters and school officials last week during the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state.
The Ivy League school sent a letter to Davidi’s lawyer saying the professor’s access to school grounds was closed as of 3 p.m. Tuesday after Columbia leaders claimed he violated school rules by making noise. -At least five faculty members were harassed during the drunken scene.
“Bullying, harassment or other threatening behavior by university employees, including faculty members, will not be tolerated,” the school said in the letter provided to The Post by Davide.
The Israeli native, who is conducting research and not teaching this semester, has not been suspended and can return to campus after completing workplace conduct training and complying with school policy, Columbia said in its letter. Is.
He can still advise students remotely, the school said.
University officials cited videos taken by Davidi and posted on social media, which show him challenging school leaders to rein in aggressive anti-Israel protesters, but to no avail as he Came face to face with some keffiyeh-clad students.
in a videoHe and Patrick Oakley, a top school public safety official, went back and forth with Davidi and lifted Oakley’s ID badge around his neck to get a better look at it.
“They blocked my movement and you’re doing nothing,” Davidi said of the protesters, with Oakley insisting, “No, you’re walking into them.”
Davidai retorted, “You’re not keeping the Jews safe.”
Davidi, who taught at Columbia for five years, told The Post Tuesday night that the school’s action was “nothing but retaliation.”
“It broke me,” he admitted. “It shows how Colombia is run by the little people.”
He said claims that he harassed or intimidated school officials are “crazy”, while he argued that the Ivy League school did not take similar discipline against anti-Israel students and faculty who supported violence against the Jewish state. Is.
“This is hypocrisy at its highest level,” he said.
“There are professors who either attended or taught at the camp,” he said. “Not a single professor has been dismissed or suspended for anti-Semitism and support of terrorism since October 7.”
This includes Controversial Professor Joseph Massadwho called the massacre of 7 October “horrible” the next day.
“He’s never been suspended from anything,” Davidi said.
David also blasted the school social media videoHe directed much of his anger toward Columbia’s chief operating officer Cass Holloway, whom he said could “deceive himself.”
He said he was scheduled to come to campus on Tuesday for an October 7 memorial organized by Jewish students before his attorney informed him about the school’s ban.
Davidi’s attorney Mark Lerner told The Post, “It is shocking that after everything that has happened, including the resignation of its president, Columbia University leadership continues to protect members of its Jewish and Israeli community while protecting terrorist supporting groups.” “has continued to be silenced and punished.”
The school has faced considerable turmoil in the past year, with anti-Israel protesters taking over the school building and camping out on a green part of the campus.
Former President Minouche Shafik stepped down suddenly in the summer.
Davidi is believed to have been an outspoken employee and has criticized the school for not doing more to protect Jewish students during anti-Israel protests.
“I feel broken,” he said Tuesday, but insisted, “I’m not stopping the fight — because it’s not about me.”
“I am not a provocateur. My goal is not to provoke or elicit a reaction – it is to create change,” he said.
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