CPSC pointed out that Bennet “has personally participated in war crimes: namely the Qana massacre that killed over 100 civilians and UN peacekeepers.”
Hundreds of students and activists demonstrated outside Columbia University in the US on Tuesday in protest at the visit by former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet.
Bennet attended an event hosted by the Kraft Center for Jewish Life, Columbia/Barnard Hillel, and the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs’s Institute for Global Politics, according to the Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC), an organizer of the protest.
THE STUDENTS UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!! FREE PALESTINE ❤️🔥❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/0kHOaZWq1m
— Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC) (@Columbia_psc) March 5, 2025
The CPSC said in a statement that a leaked email from university sources revealed that the event was intended to be kept confidential, stating “The information in this email and the details of the event, including the identity of our guest, are confidential.”
“This raises questions about the university’s transparency and its apparent attempt to downplay the controversy surrounding Bennet’s visit,” the CPSC said.
The movement noted that Bennet’s “history of inciting violence and advocating for harsh and discriminatory policies against Palestinians, alongside his assertion, ‘They are not children, they are terrorists,’ reaffirms his status as a war criminal.”
📍 Protest outside Columbia University as supporters of Palestine denounce the university’s platforming of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.#GazaGenocide #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/bkqYN1R4N7
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) March 5, 2025
War Crimes
CPSC pointed out that Bennet “has personally participated in war crimes: namely the Qana massacre that killed over 100 civilians and UN peacekeepers.”
“Columbia’s failure to take a stand against Bennet’s presence is blatant approval of his violent actions and words, contributing to a growing climate of hostile ility and division with the Columbia community,” the movement added.
PRESS RELEASE: @Columbia University Under Fire for Hosting Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett Amid Growing Student Protests and Outrage. Students are rallying tonight at 6:30 PM to condemn Bennett’s violent actions and rhetoric. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/jaLhW6VdK0
— Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC) (@Columbia_psc) March 4, 2025
Bennet’s campus appearance has been condemned by multiple student organizations, including Columbia Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace, Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition, and CU Jews for Ceasefire “for fostering a hostile environment for Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian students.”
The protest began at around 18:30 as the doors for the event with the former prime minister, who served from 2021 to 2022, opened, according to the Columbia Spectator.
The paper reported that ahead of the protest, the New York Police Department (NYPD) “parked several Strategic Response Group vans on 116th Street and Claremont Avenue,” with nearly a dozen NYPD officers positioned on 116th Street.
‘This is About Supremacy’
Protesters from the Neturei Karta, a group of anti-Zionist orthodox Jews, also participated in the protest, holding signs reading “Judaism Condemns the State of ‘Israel’ and its atrocities,” the report added.
Among the Palestinian flags displayed by protesters, one placard read: “Jews say no to ethnic cleansing.”
ACTION ALERT: EMERGENCY CITY WIDE PROTEST AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, TODAY AT 6:30 PM, 116th and Broadway. @ColumbiaSIPA is hosting prime minister Naftali Bennett on our campus. Bennett is an extremist who called all Palestinian children “terrorists”. @JVPColumbia 🧵 pic.twitter.com/4haUJa7sqU
— Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC) (@Columbia_psc) March 4, 2025
The protester who held the sign was quoted in the report as saying that: “This isn’t about Jewish. This isn’t about Arab. This is about supremacy. Right now, unfortunately, it’s Jewish supremacy. And we’re here to say, that under no circumstances, do we approve of ethnic cleansing.”
An organizer told the paper that protesters were “completely blocked off Morningside Avenue and we cannot get any closer to Faculty House, the place where he is speaking.”
University’s Response
A spokesperson for the University told the Spectator that “the event was well attended and took place without disruption or interference.”
The spokesperson that “We understand groups from outside our Columbia community also protested in public spaces outside the University’s gates which the NYPD was responsible for managing.”
March 3, 2025 Statement on Notice From Federal Agencies: https://t.co/EIVXP9ysQw pic.twitter.com/LZiTVDjj79
— Columbia University (@Columbia) March 4, 2025
CPSC further said in its statement that recent revelations of the university administration’s “clandestine collusion with undemocratically chosen and paid students in such initiatives as the Student Leadership Initiative and the Campus Access Advisory Committee-both advocating for a permanent NYPD presence on campus – raising grave concerns around the safety of students of color.”
It said these actions “also reveal a frightening imbalance in which student voices they will listen to and the treatment of students advocating for peaceful protest against genocide versus those advocating for militaristic and exclusionary practicies.”
Divestment Referendum
In addition, CPSC stated that in the Spring of 2024, the Columbia College student body “overwhelmingly passed a divestment referendum with over 60% to 77% of students” voting for the university to divest financially from Israel, cancel the Tel Aviv Global Center, and end Columbia’s dual degree with Tel Aviv University.
ABD’nin New York kentinde bulunan Columbia Üniversitesi Kampüsü’nde, eski İsrail Başbakanı Naftali Bennett’in üniversiteye gelişini protesto etmek için gösteri düzenlendi pic.twitter.com/iOzfUCsME0
— Anadolu Ajansı (@anadoluajansi) March 5, 2025
It called on Katrina Armstrong, the acting university president, to cancel the event, “issue a formal condemnation of Bennet’s visit, and launch a full investigation into the university’s handling of this situation.”
The statement noted that student groups also called for the “derecognition and formal condemnation of all individuals and student organizations involved” in hosting the event, and “for sanctions to be imposed on those responsible for violating the university’s policies regarding violence, discrimination and hate speech.”
“This is not just about one event; it’s about the larger message that Columbia is sending about the value of human life and the safety of its students,” said the CPSC spokesperson. “We demand accountability for actions that compromise the integrity of the university and put its diverse student body at risk.”
Harvard Event Scheduled
According to an X re-post by CPSC, Bennet is scheduled to speak at Harvard University’s Business School on Thursday, March 6, at an event hosted by the Israel Business Club.
🚨 “I’ve killed many Arabs in my life, and there’s no problem with that”
He is speaking at @Harvard on Thursday. Express your views to the moderator:
📧 pgompers@hbs.edu pic.twitter.com/y89RIxbXAH
— Stop Arab Hate (@StopArabHate) March 4, 2025
(The Palestine Chronicle)
