Columbia University has deactivated the ID card of Shai Davidai, the Israeli-American professor at Columbia Business School whose crusade against pro-Hamas student activity has brought global attention, Davidai claimed on Monday.
"They deactivated my card," Davidai said in a video circulating on social media, adding, "We just want to be Jewish on campus." Further videos showed Davidai attempting to enter the campus but being blocked.
Columbia has deactivated Shai Davidai’s ID, he is blocked from campus pic.twitter.com/38pIgdDFf3
— Luke Tress (@luketress) April 22, 2024
Davidai had earlier advertised a "PEACEFUL sit in at Columbia's declared 'Liberation Zone,'" inviting followers on X to bring Israeli and American flags.
Davidai has called for National Guard to step in
The professor, who publicly objected to demonstrations on campus expressing support for the October 7 attacks and to what was broadly considered a tepid response by university administrators shortly after the outbreak of the war, has become a lightning-rod of controversy as the situation of terror-support on campus has captured mainstream attention, including several congressional investigations.
When Columbia President Minouche Shafik testified before the House of Representatives earlier this week, she was asked specifically about Davidai, and reported that there had been several complaints about the professor and that the university was conducting an investigation into his behavior. Davidai has called for Shafik to be fired, and for "everyone in the antisemitism task force at Columbia to resign right now."
Earlier this week, addressing a group of Jewish students and others in New York's Central Park, Davidai called on New York Governor Kathy Hochul to enlist help from the National Guard to restore order on campus.