S2 E26. Part 1 - Professor Shai Davidai: The Reluctant Activist Waking Up America

On April 5th State of Tel Aviv spoke at length with Columbia University Professor Shai Davidai about his overnight evolution from low-key academic to high profile activist. The catalyst? The October 7th Hamas massacre in southern Israel which galvanized extreme Islamist sympathizers and hard left “progressives.” Literally overnight, Jews and Israel were vilified on campuses, in media, in massive street protests throughout North America and Europe. Davidai was horrified by what he saw happening on the Columbia University campus and began to speak out and speak up. In this episode we go back to October 7th and get into the university administration’s abdication of responsibility to its community and why and how Shai Davidai became the reluctant activist with a national profile. We also dive into the very dramatic events that have occurred on Columbia’s campus since October 7th, climaxing in anarchy this past week.

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Shai Davidai is an Israeli Professor at Columbia Business School. He moved to the United States in 2010 to pursue a PhD in Social Psychology from Cornell University and has worked at Princeton University and The New School for Social Research. Ever since October 7, Shai has been devoting his time and energy to battle support for terrorism and the rise in antisemitism at Columbia University and colleges all across the country.

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