WashingtonIn anticipation of her appearance at a hearing on what is described as “the rise in anti-Semitism on Columbia University’s campus,” Nemat Shafik, the university’s president, chose to turn to the Wall Street Journal in an attempt to avoid the fate of women presidents of prestigious universities who were forced to resign after testifying about the same issue and before the committee. Same as 4 months ago.
After Shafiq, of Egyptian origin, gave testimony that did not satisfy Israel’s supporters in the House of Representatives, nor did most of the university’s professors and students, calls for her resignation multiplied, especially after she asked the New York City police to storm the university’s campus to break up a peaceful sit-in held by pro-Palestinian students, which resulted in her being arrested. 108 of them were arrested.
The university’s president described the evacuation of the protest camp on Thursday as an “extraordinary step” and said it was necessary to provide a safe environment. This was the first time that police stormed the university campus since the Vietnam War protests at the end of the sixties of the last century.
Soliciting conservatives
Shafiq wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, whose editorial team has a right-wing Republican ideological bias, thinking that this might mitigate the severity of the committee’s conservative members’ questions. She did not write for the liberal New York Times, which is closer to the general mood and ideological orientation of Columbia University.
Shafik said in her article, “October 7 was like September 11, 2001, which changed the world. None of us expected the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel, nor the impact of those events on universities like Columbia and the entire American community. The committee before which I will testify tomorrow is in “It is a diverse body, representing a broad spectrum of viewpoints that make America unique in its tolerance for and pride in rigorous debate, and that makes it no different from the League.”
“I hope we can begin to find common ground to find solutions to anti-Semitism, not only to make college campuses safer and more welcoming for Jewish students, but for the sake of our democracy,” she added.
Months ago, a hearing before the Education Committee of the House of Representatives during which 3 female presidents of the best American and international universities presented their testimonies in Congress – about the tension taking place on campus grounds against the backdrop of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip – led to great anger among donors, graduates, students and politicians, and highlighted the tensions. The tension between Jewish and Muslim students.
The presidents of Harvard and Pennsylvania universities were forced to resign, due to the pressure they were subjected to, and because of their answers, which some considered vague and inconclusive.
Nemat Shafik tried to flatter the Jewish lobby. For example, instead of defending Professor Joseph Massad, who opposes the Israeli aggression on Gaza, Shafiq said in her testimony before the House of Representatives committee that if it had been up to her, Massad would not have been promoted to professorship, which is The degree to which a professor cannot be fired because of his opinions and beliefs.
“Any faculty member at Columbia who acts in an anti-Semitic or discriminatory manner should find somewhere else to go,” she said.
Colombia failed
Columbia University received a “D” grade in a new classification of American universities for confronting “anti-Semitism.” The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), one of the largest and most important American Jewish organizations, recently unveiled a classification of 85 American universities with the largest concentrations of American Jewish students.
The classification was based on 21 criteria developed by the organization to measure “the degree of anti-Semitism on campus” and what it considered to be increasing new practices targeting Jewish students.
The association’s rating for Columbia University reflects a failing rating, which means that the university is not doing enough to prevent “anti-Semitism” in the eyes of this Jewish organization.
Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States, member of the Knesset and senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a Columbia University graduate, also responded to Nemat Shafik’s article with an article in the Wall Street Journal, in which he said that Columbia’s soft policies had not prevented “anti-Semitism.” “It’s thriving on campus.
Oren added that Shafik tried to “avoid the mistakes of her counterparts at Harvard, Pennsylvania, and MIT, who in December downplayed the plight of Jews on campus, asserted that calls for the genocide of Jews were anti-Semitic, and pledged to punish those who use violent language.”
In Oren’s opinion, Shafik did not acknowledge the university’s failure to implement the procedures it had enacted to protect Jewish students and professors. It also addresses how Columbia University, under the banner of free speech, became “inhospitable to Jews.” It did not acknowledge how the dangerous demonstrations, such as the establishment of the sit-in camp, “were primarily the result of the university’s inaction.”
Calls for the dismissal of Shafiq
Following Shafiq’s call for the police to storm the university campus to disperse the students’ peaceful protest sit-in, many professors and students called for her immediate resignation.
In contrast, during the hearing, Rep. Liz Stefanik pressed Shafik on whether she considered the chants of anti-Israel agitators actually anti-Jewish. Shafik admitted that the slogans heard on campus were “completely anti-Jewish,” a change in the key words of her testimony.
However, Representative Liz Stefanik, who is considered the third most important Republican member in the House of Representatives, later called on Columbia University to remove the current president and the board of directors in a statement she issued after the hearing ended.
“While Columbia’s failed leadership spent hundreds of hours preparing for this congressional hearing, it was clearly an attempt to cover up its abject failure to enforce its own campus rules and protect Jewish students on campus,” Stefanik said.
The Republican congresswoman added that over the past few months and in the past 24 hours in particular, Columbia University’s leadership has clearly lost control of its campus, putting the safety of Jewish students at risk.
In the representative’s opinion, Columbia University – which was previously a beacon of academic excellence founded by Alexander Hamilton – needs new leadership. “University President Nemat Shafiq must resign immediately.”
Neamat Shafik, who holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Oxford, has worked in the global financial sector at various stages and with multiple institutions.
According to the International Monetary Fund’s Finance and Development Journal, Shafiq worked at the World Bank in 1989. In the mid-2000s, she led the Department for International Development in the United Kingdom government.
She also worked in the International Monetary Fund in several capacities, and served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of England during the turmoil that accompanied the country’s exit from the European Union (Brexit).
