Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent
If you are someone who gets their news primarily from the New York Times and NPR, as many liberal-leaning Americans do, you often get a distorted picture of what is going on the US and the world.
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what → get → US
This is often less because of outright errors in reporting, and more about what isn't said.
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what → say → reporting
For example, each outlet barely covered the widespread nationwide rioting that accompanied Black Lives Matters protests in summer 2020.
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that → cover → summer
I still meet people who think the the primary violence that summer was from police manhandling protestors, and are completely unaware of the deaths, injuries and massive property damage attributable to rioters.
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violence → meet → rioters
Similarly, I keep encountering people who have no idea that there was widespread antisemitic violence, intimidation, and threats on college campuses after Oct. 7, 2023, and instead think that university officials and later the Trump administration had no justification for clamping down on what they perceive as peaceful "pro-Palestine" protests.
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they → encounter → protests
And that's because they are being misinformed by sources like the Times and NPR.
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they → misinform → Times
In a puff piece in yesterday's New York Times about a lawsuit filed by Mahmoud Khalil, alleging discrimination by Columbia University against Palestinian students and their "pro-Palestine" allies, the Times reports: "The 2023 and 2024 protests divided the Columbia campus, with thousands joining in, and others, including some Jewish students, saying they were too disruptive or made them feel unsafe."
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them → file → students
Here, relying on a recent article of mine, is some of what happened at Columbia, limited to violence, threats, and intimidation--and this involves only the incidents that were publicly reported:
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that → rely → incidents
In October 2023, an Israeli Columbia student was assaulted in front of Butler Library by a former student who was no longer affiliated with the university.
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who → assault → university
The assailant allegedly struck the student with a stick; police arrested and charged the suspect.
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police → strike → suspect
During a separate student walkout "for Palestine," a Jewish student was allegedly shoved by a Columbia classmate wearing a keffiyeh and subsequently swarmed by protesters.
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student → shove → protesters
According to a subsequent civil-rights complaint, an individual confronted a Jewish student while yelling "Free Palestine" and "Fuck the Jews."
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individual → accord → Jews
The assailant allegedly made the motivation explicit, telling the student that he had singled him out "because you are a Jew."
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you → make → him
Other physical incidents followed.
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incidents → follow → ?
Columbia student Jonathan Lederer was assaulted while carrying Israeli flags on April 20, 2024; the source cited in my article reports that a suspect threw a rock at him.
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suspect → assault → him
Lederer was assaulted again on December 11, 2024, while once again carrying an Israeli flag; this time, the assailant reportedly punched him and called him a "Nazi."
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assailant → assault → him
In another incident, a Jewish Columbia student wearing a kippah was spat upon and told, "I hope you guys suffer."
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guys → wear → kippah
These individual confrontations occurred against a background of increasingly intimidating mass protests.
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confrontations → occur → protests
Demonstrators at Columbia shouted "Fuck the Jews," "Death to Jews," and "Fuck Israel," attempted to instigate fights, and screamed at a rabbi who was praying with students.
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who → shout → students
At one demonstration, protest organizer Mohsen Mahdawi used a megaphone to direct protesters to push back a small group of pro-Israel students.
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Mahdawi → use → students
Columbia officials themselves later acknowledged that the campus had experienced "threatening rhetoric and intimidation."
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campus → acknowledge → rhetoric
Protesters also targeted a Columbia class dealing with Israel, distributing flyers bearing such slogans as "The enemy will not see tomorrow" and "Burn Zionism to the Ground."
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enemy → target → Ground
Jewish organizations characterized the messages as incitement.
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organizations → characterize → incitement
Perhaps the most notorious individual episode involved Columbia student protest leader Khymani James.
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episode → involve → James
James publicly declared that "Zionists don't deserve to live" and said that people should be "grateful that I'm not just going out and murdering Zionists."
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I → declare → Zionists
Columbia suspended him, and even the White House condemned his statements.
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House → suspend → statements
What happened afterward is also significant.
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happened → happen → ?
Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), the umbrella organization for anti-Israel groups on campus (and to which Khalid was attached), initially apologized for James's statements.
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Khalid → attach → statements
It subsequently withdrew the apology and expressly endorsed "armed resistance."
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It → withdraw → resistance
James likewise disavowed his expression of regret.
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James → disavow → regret
There was another feature of the protests that mattered to many Jewish students: anonymity.
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that → be → students
At Columbia, as elsewhere, many demonstrators concealed their identities with masks, keffiyehs, and other face coverings while participating in protests that included rhetoric such as "Globalize the Intifada."
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that → conceal → Intifada
Whatever one's view of that slogan in isolation, its effect can be different when it is shouted by anonymous demonstrators amid actual incidents of assault and intimidation.
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it → shout → assault
Students encountering such protesters cannot necessarily know whether the masked people endorsing violent "resistance" are strangers, classmates, or people living in their own dormitories.
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people → encounter → dormitories
The situation escalated dramatically during the spring 2024 encampment, when students blocked up a section of campus.
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students → escalate → campus
The escalation culminated in the occupation of Hamilton Hall.
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escalation → culminate → Hall
Protesters broke into the building, vandalized it, and held two custodians against their will, while calling them "Jew-lovers."
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Protesters → break → them
Columbia's own findings provide important evidence about how this environment affected Jewish students.
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environment → provide → students
The university's Task Force on Antisemitism reported that Jewish students described not only verbal harassment and social ostracism, but also being physically targeted and feeling unsafe in their dormitories.
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students → report → dormitories
By April 2024, the situation had become sufficiently alarming that a Columbia campus rabbi advised Jewish students to leave campus and return home as soon as possible because of concerns about their safety.
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rabbi → become → safety
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
