A Jewish Columbia University professor who has been a vocal critic of the administration’s response to the ongoing anti-Israel student protests said Monday he has been barred from the school’s main campus.
Israeli-born Shai Davidai, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School and an outspoken supporter of the Jewish state, said when he swiped his key car at the school’s Morningside Heights campus it read “deactivated,” prompting a crowd of pro-Israel protesters to shout “Let him in!” and “Shame!”
“They are not letting me on main campus. But listen to the irony — I was just told by [Columbia’s Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway] that I am [to be] let on the campus of the business school where I’m teaching tomorrow,” he told a crowd of pro-Israel rallies near the school’s gate on Monday.
“So they are willing to use Jewish brains, but they don’t want to let Jewish people in,” he said.
Davidai says his card still has access to the Manhattanville campus on West 130th Street, where he teaches at the business school.
“I ask of you, if you have a Columbia ID, please go in, take videos — do not engage. If they don’t let you in, and then document the fact that they’re not letting other Jewish people into campus,” he added.