Freedom of speech propels democracy. But when employed incorrectly, we inch closer towards the kind of tyranny and oppression in Nazi Germany, when Jews were systematically silenced through censorship, propaganda and ultimately the Holocaust. In that dark time, Jewish books were burned and Jewish voices were excluded from public life and, as we are seeing again today, in academia.
The clash between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli Americans has been so intense because of our mutual right to free speech. But Columbia University’s temporary restriction of Shai Davidai — a Jewish Israeli professor at the Columbia Business School — from entering campus has infringed on this very right.
Davidai has spoken out against what he calls “pro-terror” protestors on campus since Oct. 7, 2023. He has encouraged students to film him confronting pro-Palestinian protestors. His confrontations are not intended to “harass” or “intimidate,” as Columbia claims, only to educate. Last week, at the University of Toronto, Davidai posted a video of an encounter with a student who claimed Israel’s history started in 1948. The student professed to understand the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, but when asked about the Hebron massacre, the Great Arab Revolt or the British Mandate — all events prior to 1948 — he had zero clue about any of it.
Davidai ended by giving the student book recommendations and captioned the video: “The only cure for indoctrination is education. It’s OK not to know. It’s not OK to say that you do when you don’t, and it’s DEFINITELY not OK to protest something you have no idea about.”
Davidai believes that the rise in pro-Palestinian protests is largely due to ignorance. His mission is to educate and, for this, he has suffered consequences. People think he’s some kind of fanatic who deserves the academic equivalent of a time-out. But let’s examine the context and see if he’s really the maniac he’s been portrayed as on social media.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas invaded Israel, kidnapped 254 hostages, likely raped women and murdered 1,200 Israeli civilians — the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. At Columbia, on the anniversary of this genocide, Jewish students wanted a day to mourn. They gathered, wrapped themselves in the Israeli flag and called a prayer in Hebrew for the victims. But masked “Free Palestine” advocates felt a need to protest this mourning of mass rape and murder and vastly outnumbered the Jews gathered. These protesters were not peacefully demonstrating for peace between Israel and Palestine. They were promoting the opposite, shouting that there will be no peace until Palestine is victorious.
Davidai is seen as a radical for referring to these protestors as “pro-terror,” but Hamas is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States Bureau of Counterterrorism. Protestors hold Hamas signs that read “glory to them.” Protestors shout “No peace” and “Globalize the Intifada.” They say this “speaks to liberation” and “to free Palestine from the apartheid regime and the military occupation.” For me it calls for freedom and for change. But to many Jews, this phrase is inextricable from the violence towards Israelis during the First and Second Intifadas. So the word “Intifada” feels as charged as if someone were to say “Holocaust.” A phrase that calls for aggressive resistance against Israel and those who support Israel around the globe. By the same token, “From the River to the Sea” is an implicit rallying cry for the ethnic cleansing of Israeli Jews from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. “There is only one solution” is a rejection of the co-existence of Israel and Palestine with shades of Hitler’s “final solution” to exterminate Jews from the face of the earth. As is “resistance by any means necessary.”
By any means necessary. Think about that. If that is not condoning the “means” of rape, the “means” of murder, the “means” of mutilating, defiling bodies and using people as human shields. If that is not condoning terrorism, I don’t know what is.
Davidai exercised his right to free speech by calling out Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian scholar at Columbia. Khalidi, in response to the ransacking and vandalizing of Columbia by pro-Palestinian protestors, said “shame on the administration” for shutting it down merely because they condoned Hamas. And yet Davidai is considered an extremist and Khalidi — who endorses violence, law-breaking and terrorism — is not. Pro-Palestinian protestors may claim their right to free speech, but chanting slogans that incite such violence crosses over into hate speech. They are certainly no longer exercising free speech in a constructive way that promotes democracy. Davidai also called out Columbia COO Cas Holloway for permitting the inciting of violence. Columbia saw this as the final straw and barred Davidai from campus.
Tomorrow, students who shout violent genocidal rhetoric will inhale the crisp Upper West Side air, fallen leaves crunching under their feet as they tramp through the Weiner courtyard. Tomorrow, Holloway will sit down at his desk and feel the gentle burn of his coffee trickling down his throat. Tomorrow, Khalidi will be praised for condoning violence by Columbia students and Hamas. But Davidai will know none of those pleasures. His reward for speaking up against this oppression of democracy is to be seen as a disgrace and to be barred from the university.
“Never Again” is the phrase coined by survivors of the concentration camps symbolizing the lessons learned from the Holocaust. It is a promise, and it is our responsibility to promote free speech and prevent its silencing to preserve our democracy so that tyranny may become history.
Kingsley Marin, GSB ’28, is a finance major from Los Angeles, Calif.
