By Pauline Gallon
On the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel, Columbia University students from both the pro-Israel and pro-Palestine sides organized vigils for the victims of October 7th, and the war that followed.
Jewish students gathered at the Columbia Sundial on the Morningside Heights campus. No Palestinian commemoration was allowed on the grounds, nor were members of the press, but students supporting Palestine protested outside the university gates.
Marc Altheim and Jay Scheiner drove in from Long Island hoping to catch a glimpse of the 1,200 chairs that had been set up on the South Lawn on Monday, each representing a person killed by Hamas two years ago.
1,200 chairs were placed on Columbia University’s lawn in memory of the 1,200 victims of October 7. pic.twitter.com/kN4Wu0nikX
— Global Eye News🌐 (@globaleeyenews) October 7, 2025
The two friends, both Jewish, were highly critical of Columbia University and what they called “self-hating Jews” who took part in the pro-Palestine protest.
Right outside the gates of the university, about 100 members of Jewish Voice for Peace, a coalition of “anti-Zionist Jews,” and Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition, gathered at 1 p.m., most of them wearing keffiyeh to protect their identities.
Security barriers forced the group north toward Miller Theatre, while NYPD surveilled the situation. Chants like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “No peace on stolen land,” echoed on the streets.
“Our university continues to crack down, banning us from holding any event that makes visible their complicity in genocide,” a protester said during their remarks.
When she added, “At least 95 people have been murdered in Gaza just this Saturday,” an older man who had been watching the scene wearing a “Keep America Great” red hat yelled, “Not enough, not enough!” before being booed by the crowd.
Former student Mahmoud Khalil, who led the campus protests in 2024 and was arrested by ICE last March, also joined the protest. You can see his remarks from the day — HERE.
Jewish students, draped in the Israeli flag, later walked around the crowd before settling a few feet away in silence. “Today is a day of mourning for the Jewish people around the world,” said Elisha Baker, the co-chair of Columbia Aryeh. “It’s a day to show our pride and solidarity for our Zionism, for our brothers and sisters in Israel.”
As the vigil kept on going, several passersby stopped to listen to the speeches.
Tammy Spielman, a Jewish resident of Morningside Heights, was confused about the lack of mention of the ceasefire deal and the fact that protesters wouldn’t engage with her. “It makes them look ill-informed, like they don’t really understand what’s going on,” she said.
Yet, Spielman has mixed feelings about Columbia’s deal with President Trump. “I don’t think taking funding away from a kid doing research for breast cancer is the answer,” she said.
When asked why the pro-Palestine students were protesting today, Layla, a Palestinian-American who served as press liaison for the event, said “Columbia has tried really hard to erase Palestinian presence and it’s important to ensure that Palestinian voices are heard every single day.”
The student groups eventually cleared out from 116th Street and Broadway and headed to their afternoon classes.
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At this point it has been made very clear that “From the river to the sea” is a highly offensive chant, roughly equivalent to directing the N word at an African-American person. One could have potentially claimed ignorance a few years ago, but no longer. So the continued use of it is malicious and offensive. It seems like the pro-Palestinian protestors (at least some of them) are looking to pick a fight. Of all days, this was not the one to protest, and this was not the way to do so.
The Israeli side is far from perfect, but two wrongs don’t make a right.
“roughly equivalent to directing the N word at an African-American person” LOL let’s not be dramatic here
To quote John Mulaney- “If you’re comparing the badness of two words and you won’t even say one of them that’s the worst word”
And a subset Jewish Israelis have been espousing “from the river to the sea” for decades. Only, the river is the Tigris.
That’s what “greater Israel” means.
So pot kettle..
Columbia hasn’t tried to “erase Palestinian presence.” That statement is absurd. Columbia just wants them to stop disrupting the educational process. It is not erasing a people by telling them that classes can’t be disrupted and lawns can’t be overtaken. Is that all the protesters are able to do? Is that their only ability to have presence? Are they saying that all they are is a disruption?
won’t someone think of the the lawns.
classes weren’t disrupted.
Typical. If it doesn’t fit the narrative, it didn’t happen. Students most definitely stormed into classes and disrupted the classes with handouts, chants, banners, etc. Even the Columbia Spectator reported on class disruptions.
You’ll want to check those class disruption claims. It was insignificant.
“Insignificant…” Marching into a single class primarily containing Jewish students, disrupting class, shouting, handing out flyers containing violent and anti-semitic rhetoric….That seem’s more than “insignificant” to me. The fact that you are trying to down play this is rather significant.
Check your sources.
And anti-Semitism is not the same as objecting to Israel’s behavior.
When the objection is solely targeted to the one Jewish state, it absolutely is antisemitism. In fact, it’s the very definition of it
Document that, including the “mostly Jewish students” thing.
Handing out fliers is not disrupting classes. The Columbia protestors were far from anti-Semitic. Stop getting your facts from the likes of FoxNews.
The source of violence was overwhelming coming from supporters of Israel, not just at Columbia, but also at other universities, especially UCLA.
Yes, I find that statement to be both amusing and absurd. Columbia faculty and students have been frankly obsessed with the Israel and Palestine issue for a few decades now.
There are so many partisans on this issue on campus that it’s actually inescapable.
The idea that Palestinians are being erased from Columbia shows a level of fatalism and even extremism that surrounds this issue on campus.
There was no occupation of the Columbia campus ?
Just gatherings outside ?
Just curious, what changed ?
Gates are closed to outsiders, and protesting rules being enforced. The demonstrators were always nonstudent outsiders.
“always”?
Please look at the outside crowd. The overwhelming majority of “protestors” were nonstudents and outsiders. The city should not allow these demonstrations so close to a private university.
NYC is a free speech zone.
USA is a free speech zone. At least it used to be anyway…
Sadly, the City can’t do anything if they are peaceful and not blocking people’s ability to move through. If they are going to block egress, they just need a permit that the City can’t deny. Free speech. Columbia, however, as a private entity is NOT bound by the First Amendment because that only applies to the government.
disagree
October 7 was the anniversary of a massacre. One can mourn the terrible loss of life and the outrageous violence during that day, without it taking away from the need to correct course with regards to what has been going on in Gaza following (and some would say, as the result of) the Hamas massacre. Is there a place to protest and call for the end of suffering in Gaza? Absolutely. Is that time and place the day of remembrance of the worst massacre since the Holocaust? I think not. For if one truly cares for human rights and is against human suffering, they will not feel the need to negate the suffering of others (let alone celebrate it or refuse to even acknowledge it or refuse to call it what it was). It would have done a lot more toward peace and end of suffering, to have the people who claim to seek an end to violence, stand shoulder to shoulder with those commemorating the violence on Oct 7, and together call for the end of suffering for all, Gaza people and the hostages and the people of Israel and all who are suffering around the world.
Sadly, but at this point unsurprisingly, the number of anti-Israel protesters worldwide seemed to outnumber the Israeli mourners by about 1,000-to-1 …..
Israel has murdered hundreds of thousands of Palestinians as this point.
there is no shortage of foolish people in the world