The Times of Israel Daily Briefing Day 797 -- Final Columbia antisemitism report reveals classroom aggressions
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Dec 11, 2025 In this discussion, Luke Tress, a U.S. reporter covering American politics and Jewish community issues, dives into Columbia University’s final report on antisemitism, highlighting discriminatory practices faced by Jewish and Israeli students. He examines tensions between free speech and faculty biases in Middle East studies while revealing a controversy at Cal State where a professor encouraged students to oppose an antisemitism bill. Additionally, Tress discusses a legal settlement at UC Berkeley after an Israeli lecturer was disinvited, and explores the political implications of mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's victory.
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Classroom Hostility At Columbia
- Columbia's task force found classrooms became spaces where Jewish and Israeli students were singled out and made uncomfortable.
- The report calls for ideological diversity in Middle East studies to allow Zionist students to study without discrimination.
Disruption Of An Israeli History Class
- Luke recounts an Israeli professor's class being disrupted on the first day for teaching Israeli history.
- Students accused the instructor of being a murderer and labeled donors as "laundering blood money."
Ideological Monoculture In Middle East Studies
- Columbia's Middle East Studies lacked instructors who were not explicitly anti-Zionist, limiting options for Zionist students.
- That ideological homogeneity effectively excluded students who hold pro-Israel views from study spaces.