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446707 |
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Date: March 07, 2025 at 21:26:26
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: this is American now |
URL: https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-campus-protests-trump-congress-ba0eddec4679d70287202831c52ebed6 |
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Jeffrey St. Clair, CounterPunch reposted
Jake Offenhartz:
"A new office at Columbia is investigating dozens of students for speech critical
of Israel. One Palestinian student recently got a notice accusing her of
"discriminatory harassment." Her alleged offense: writing a pro-divestment op-
ed in the student paper"
Facing Trump’s threats, Columbia investigates students critical of Israel
Maryam Alwan, a student at Columbia University who received a disciplinary
notice from the school accusing her of helping to publish a newspaper op-ed
critical of Israel, poses for a photo outside the campus, Wednesday, March 5,
2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
1 of 2 | Maryam Alwan, a student at Columbia University who received a
disciplinary notice from the school accusing her of helping to publish a
newspaper op-ed critical of Israel, poses for a photo outside the campus,
Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Read More
BY JAKE OFFENHARTZ
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NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University senior Maryam Alwan was visiting
family in Jordan over winter break when she received an email from the school
accusing her of discriminatory harassment. Her supposed top offense: writing
an op-ed in the student newspaper calling for divestment from Israel.
The probe is part of a flurry of recent cases brought by a new university
disciplinary committee — the Office of Institutional Equity — against Columbia
students who have expressed criticism of Israel, according to records shared
with The Associated Press.
In recent weeks, it has sent notices to dozens of students for activities ranging
from sharing social media posts in support of Palestinian people to joining
“unauthorized” protests.
One student activist is under investigation for putting up stickers off campus
that mimicked “Wanted” posters, bearing the likenesses of university trustees.
Another, the president of a campus literary club, faces sanction for co-hosting
an art exhibition in a private building that focused on last spring’s occupation of
a campus building.
In Alwan’s case, investigators said the unsigned op-ed in the Columbia
Spectator, which also urged the school to curtail academic ties to Israel, may
have subjected other students to “unwelcome conduct” based on their religion,
national origin or military service. They promised a thorough investigation, with
sanctions ranging from a simple warning to expulsion.
“It just felt so dystopian to have something go through rigorous edits, only to be
labeled discriminatory because it’s about Palestine,” said Alwan, a Palestinian-
American comparative studies major. “It made me not want to write or say
anything on the subject anymore.”
The new disciplinary office is raising alarm among students, faculty and free
speech advocates, who accuse the school of bowing to President Donald
Trump’s threats to slash funding to universities and deport campus “agitators.”
“Based on how these cases have proceeded, the university now appears to be
responding to governmental pressure to suppress and chill protected speech,”
said Amy Greer, an attorney who is advising students accused of
discrimination. “It’s operating as a business by protecting its assets ahead of its
students, faculty and staff.”
Columbia is under financial pressure
On Monday, federal agencies announced they would consider cutting $51
million in contracts to the school — along with billions more in additional grants
— due to its “ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish
students.”
“We are resolute that calling for, promoting, or glorifying violence or terror has
no place at our university,” Columbia said in a statement following the
announcement.
House Republicans have also launched their own review of Columbia’s
disciplinary process. Their most recent letter gave administrators until Feb. 27
to turn over student disciplinary records for nearly a dozen campus incidents,
including protests it claimed “promoted terrorism and vilified the U.S. military,”
as well as the off-campus art exhibition.
A spokesperson for Columbia declined to specify what, if any, records were
turned over to Congress and whether they included the names of students. The
spokesperson also declined to comment any on pending investigation of
students.
The new disciplinary committee was created last summer to “fairly and
expeditiously” address cases of discrimination, with the first notices going out
in late November. Under its policy, speech against another country may be
considered harassment if “directed at or infused with discriminatory comments
about persons from, or associated with, that country.”
Jewish students at Columbia are among those who have received the notices
for taking part in pro-Palestinian protests. Other Jewish students have said that
rhetoric at protests has crossed into antisemitism and that the administration
has been too tolerant of demonstrators who created a hostile environment for
people who support Israel.
In August, Columbia’s task force on antisemitism issued a report that said Jews
and Israelis at the school were ostracized from student groups, humiliated in
classrooms and subjected to verbal abuse as pro-Palestinian demonstrations
shook the campus. In one instance, pro-Palestine protesters forced their way
into a campus building, prompting university to call in the police and shut down
campus.
The task force has also offered its own definition of antisemitism, which
includes discrimination or exclusion based on “real or perceived ties to Israel,”
as well as “certain double standards applied to Israel,” such as calls for
divestment solely from the country.
That definition was intended to apply to education and training, rather than
discipline, according to the task force.
Disciplinary committee works in secret
Under the office’s policies, students are required to sign a nondisclosure
agreement before accessing case materials or speaking with investigators,
ensuring the process has remained shrouded in secrecy since it began late last
year. Aspect of the committee’s work were first reported this week by the online
publication Drop Site News.
Those who have met with investigators say they were asked to name other
people involved in pro-Palestinian groups and protests on campus. They said
the investigators did not provide clear guidance on whether certain terms —
such as “Zionist” or “genocide” — would be considered harassment.
Several students and faculty who spoke with the AP said the committee
accused them of participating in demonstrations they did not attend or helping
to circulate social media messages they did not post.
Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student who served as a negotiator for pro-
Palestinian protesters during the previous spring’s encampment, said he was
accused by the office of misconduct just weeks before his graduation this
December. “I have around 13 allegations against me, most of them are social
media posts that I had nothing to do with,” he said.
After refusing to sign the nondisclosure agreement, Khalil said the university
put a hold on his transcript and threatened to block him from graduating. But
when he appealed the decision through a lawyer, they eventually backed down,
Khalil said.
“They just want to show Congress and right-wing politicians that they’re doing
something, regardless of the stakes for students,” Khalil said. “It’s mainly an
office to chill pro-Palestine speech.”
According to some students, the disciplinary push may be reigniting the pro-
Palestinian protest movement that roiled campuses last year.
In recent days, students have occupied multiple buildings at Barnard College,
an affiliate of Columbia University, to protest the expulsion of two students
accused of disrupting an Israeli history class. Several students were arrested
following an hourslong takeover of a building Wednesday night.
JAKE OFFENHARTZ
Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The
Associated Press.
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Responses:
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446735 |
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Date: March 09, 2025 at 21:31:19
From: Kat, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: this is American now |
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‘Associated Press’ says it all. This kind of rhetoric has been on university
campuses for yrs. We are re- living the 70’s. 80’s & 90’s IMO
Want to screw up your kids thinking send him/her to an expensive
university. Allowing them to live on grants payed by tax payers never to
be seen again. And student loans , Makes perfect sense. That only
IDIOTS Would understand.
My ex-friend got a degree in Social work. $40- thousand in grants later,
$38-thousand in student loans. She worked for a whole 10- yrs then
went on disability.I helped her get her high school equivalency, took her
to class everyday. She started this venture in ID then transferred her
credits to CA ( the welfare state) where she was getting $3- thousand a
month in her daughters name from her Grandmother. Paid a nurse $400.
A month to tend to her grandmother till she died. Never thinking of
paying some of her students loans off or saving any of it. For what!?
She now lives on SS and baby sits pets in there home while owners go on
trips. She knows what day and where to go when food is handed out free.
She now lives in Chico, CA . Was burned out of Paradise, CA I broke my
silence to let her know she was on the MISSING LIST. SHE GOT A NEW
HOME in a different park, I had saved all her poems I typed up for her.
And dug out all the pictures I could find of her family and sent them to
her. She was also able to get 2017 car free & clear! Am glad she has a
roof over her head and food. She lived on welfare 3/4 of her life. I asked
her if we could be friends w/o politics. Never heard from her again. We’ve
known each other since we were 7-8 yrs old.
Very sad. & life goes on.
I applied for classes at the same time- it was going to cost me $65.00
per credit! Unless I wanted to be an electrician, or a plumber. Because I
did it the way I did I was classified as a ‘miss placed housewife’. Ain’t life
great!!? I stayed home & raised our child. Started my own business so I
could be around when my kid needed me.
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[446758] [446803] [446804] [446762] [446736] [446814] [446829] |
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446758 |
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Date: March 10, 2025 at 17:48:08
From: Kat, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: this is American now |
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She lived w/ many men & married 4- times. The last husband molested
her young daughter. She took him to court, her daughter had to testify,
she did also. The awful guy got put into prison for 4- yrs. While he was
there The Mother of the child had conjugal visits with this awful man
behind her daughter’s back! No knowledge at all ever got out that this
took place. I’m pretty glad we are no longer friends!!
She was molested as a child & continued to allow this to control her as a
victim her whole life.
Well, she wasn’t the only one. I took a different turn in life & learned NOT
TO BE VICTIM of anything. This world today cries victimhood all the time.
Big part of today’s world problems IMO.
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Responses:
[446803] [446804] [446762] |
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446803 |
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Date: March 13, 2025 at 00:58:42
From: Kat, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: this is American now |
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Her disability was caused by a very bad fight she had w/ one of her live
ins. Not from working.
I took her & her daughter into our home when she was kicked out from
fighting one of her roomys, she bit the tip of his breast off! She was
staying out late every night. One morning she came in at 7-AM. I made
sure the girls had breakfast & clean clothes on took them to school.
After that I confronted her saying my daughter is NOT USED to seeing
people come in the front door at that time of the day. She offered no
explanation. So I let it go time after time. Then one night I went to the
house where she used to live & her ‘roomy’ was still living. No car like
hers until I drove around the block. There it was! This man had beat the
living hell out of her & there she was lying to me, her daughter, and
worse herself! He was drinking again & so was she.
I asked her how long was she going to let what happened to her control
her ? She had a choice to take control of what happened yrs ago & live a
better life. She’d been to counseling, time & time again. She is 8 days
older than me. We both were in our 40’s. I got help in my 30’s. Relived it
all. I was physically abused verbally abused, & sexually abused. I could
have been a cereal killer. My counselor told me that my mom warped my
soul!! My own mother took the cord rapped it around my neck clinched
teeth saying” it would be so easy to pull this tight!” I was close to
slapping her away but I couldn’t hit my mom. (An I dropper of how I was
raised.) I chose to BREAK THE CHAIN! I took all the bad & made it into
good. I was Blessed by the Grace of God.
So any of you who think you know me…think again!
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Responses:
[446804] |
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446804 |
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Date: March 13, 2025 at 01:09:04
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: this is American now |
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that explains a lot kat...thanks for sharing...
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446762 |
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Date: March 10, 2025 at 20:27:44
From: shadow, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: this is American now |
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Reading your stories here Kat it’s hard not to be struck by how little
compassion you seem to choose to have for those who, for whatever
reason, have not been able to find their ways out of feeling like victims of
Whatever or Whoever…
Do you really believe that your having managed to do so, to the degree
you have, entitles you to look down on those who have not? Imagine that
that gives you some right to judge them, as your bible exhorts you not
to?
All’s I see there is a lot of your calling admiration to yourself at the
expense of others you see as lacking… Nice…
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446736 |
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Date: March 10, 2025 at 00:13:39
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: this is American now |
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good for you kat! life is challenging for sure, especially for most of us that didn't get born to rich parents like rump and musty boy...we are hear to learn...be thankful for what life has taught you...
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446814 |
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Date: March 13, 2025 at 13:23:37
From: Kat, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: this is American now |
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Every morning I wake up I thank God for the loving husband I have (57+
yrs) & the lessons I’ve been able to learn in life. No worries & debt free!
Has it been easy? No, but very do-able. If one chooses to make life
better. The way one is raised does NOT have to dictate who you are as an
adult. FACT.
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Responses:
[446829] |
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446829 |
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Date: March 14, 2025 at 11:56:26
From: Kat, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: this is American now P.S. |
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Bad moments are your best fuel to do better.
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446708 |
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Date: March 07, 2025 at 23:58:49
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: this is American now |
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Responses:
[446711] |
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446711 |
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Date: March 08, 2025 at 06:12:16
From: chaskuchar@stcharlesmo, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: this is American now |
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Responses:
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