Columbia University deactivates pro-Israel professor's swipe card
Columbia University has deactivated the swipe card of a pro-Israel professor accused of harassing pro-Palestinian students amid rising tensions between the two camps on campus.
“They are not letting me on main campus,” Israel-born Shai Davidai, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School, told pro-Israel supporters clustered outside the school’s campus on Monday.
“Everybody, my card has been deactivated,” Davidai yelled to supporters gathered outside the campus gates. “I am a professor here, I have a right to be everywhere on campus.”
Davidai, who teaches, “decision making & negotiations, leadership & organizational behavior”, according to his biography on Columbia Business School’s website, has been accused of harassing pro-Palestinian students.
“Under the guise of fighting antisemitism, he uses his Twitter and Instagram accounts to incite harassment and violence against [pro-Palestine students of color],” an online petition demanding Columbia fire Davidai, alleges.
According to the petition, which has garnered almost 11,000 signatures, Shai claims that any opposition towards him is "antisemitic" and engages in “doxing” or publishing private or public information about students to punish them for their political views.
"The issue is not with Shai’s individual political beliefs, the issue is how he uses personal social media accounts to target, harass, and bully students, including Palestinian students who have lost family members in Gaza,” the petition said.