Columbia University has banned Khymani James, an anti-Zionist student protest organizer, from its premises following reports of his past violent remarks towards Zionists. The decision was made after it emerged that James had previously made incendiary comments during a disciplinary hearing in January 2021. In the video recording obtained by Campus Reform, an online publication focused on exposing liberal excesses at colleges and universities across North America, James stated: “Zionists don’t deserve to live” and added that people should be grateful he was not killing them outright.
The university spokesperson condemned such statements as unacceptable and in violation of its policies against calls for violence based on religious or ethnic identity. Earlier this week, James had apologized for his violent words but also expressed frustration at the diversion caused by these comments from the Palestine liberation movement’s cause.
During a disciplinary hearing held earlier this year following a social media post where he appeared to insinuate that he would kill Zionists, James maintained that such extreme actions could be justified in specific scenarios. Following his online tirade on 3 January when asked by university officials about the statements, he elaborated further, arguing that if individuals supporting ideologies leading to mass genocide continue unchecked then it may well result in their elimination being acceptable or desirable as per collective social consensus.
These remarks have been widely condemned by various quarters including White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates who called them “dangerous, appalling statements” that should serve as a wake-up call to America against extremist opinions based on ideologies propagated from radical wings like Zionists’ or white supremacists’.
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik has come under criticism both by supporters of the Palestinian protests and Jewish communities for her handling of these demonstrations, which have now continued over a week. The university senate voted in favor of creating an investigative task force to scrutinize its leadership’s actions after alleging that calling on campus police violated shared governance principles.
Leave a Reply