Staff Reports
Uh-oh, looks like the pro-Palestinian protesters are at it again, causing a ruckus at Columbia University and other campuses this week. The troublemakers in question have some sketchy financial ties to big left-wing donors, making their motives even more questionable.
The tension at Columbia has been on the rise, with these pro-Palestinian protesters camping out on campus for a whole week now. More than 100 of them have been hauled off to the slammer, police are swarming the place, and reports are coming in about non-students waltzing onto campus, making everyone worry about safety.
In news that should come as no surprise to anyone …
Major Columbia protest organizers have ties to left-wing donors – Washington Examiner https://t.co/Br7T6xsWx4
— Cassis (@cassisnouveau) April 23, 2024
The group behind all this chaos calls itself Columbia University Apartheid Divest, and they’ve got a laundry list of demands. They want Columbia to cut ties with any companies or institutions making a buck off of Israel, sever connections with Israeli universities, and stop all “land grabs” in Harlem, Lenapehoking, or Palestine. They’ve even got their pals at Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace joining in, rallying up other likeminded folks at Harvard University, the Ohio State University, Boston University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
But here’s the kicker: one of the big players in this mess, Students for Justice in Palestine, has some shady ties to the Westchester People’s Action Coalition, which supports all kinds of lefty projects and has more than a cool mil in the bank. And get this, they’re supposedly buddy-buddy with American Muslims for Palestine, a group the Anti-Defamation League says is all about anti-Zionist training. Yikes.
Then there’s Jewish Voice for Peace, with assets of over $2.8 million and a whopping $3.9 million in donations from various sources, including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and ol’ George Soros’s Open Society Network. Can you say “cash flow”?
And it doesn’t stop there, folks. Other groups causing a stir with Columbia University Apartheid Divest include Columbia Queer Alliance, Columbia University Students for Human Rights, White Coats 4 Black Lives, and Muslim Students Association. It’s a regular who’s who of left-wing troublemakers.
Not surprisingly, the head honchos at Columbia are scrambling to cool things down. They’ve shifted all classes to virtual instruction, telling out-of-towners to stay put and giving everyone a time-out to think about what they’ve done. The school’s president even made a plea for everyone to sit down and talk it out, calling for a “reset” and begging the protesters to stop cramping everyone else’s style.
But wait, there’s more drama. Jewish leaders are sounding the alarm, warning students about their safety on campus. Rabbi Elie Buechler even went as far as urging Jewish students to hightail it out of there until things calm down, saying the school and police can’t guarantee their safety in the face of all this craziness.
One brave first-year, Parker De Deker, who’s faced some scary antisemitic harassment and got followed around because of his Jewish identity, decided to skip town and spend Passover in Florida. He’s not feeling too keen on returning to campus with all this chaos stirring up trouble.
And it gets even crazier, folks. De Deker spills the beans about a bunch of non-students swooping in and joining the protests, making the whole area around campus feel like a danger zone. He’s seen outsiders waving the flags of terrorist groups and spewing all sorts of ugly stuff. It’s no wonder he’s steering clear of campus until things cool down.
Well, there you have it, folks. The pro-Palestinian protesters might have bitten off more than they can chew this time. Let’s hope things settle down before things really go off the rails.
