A freshman at Barnard College at Columbia University showed great frustration at Hamas-supporting protestors continuing to harass Jewish students.
Eliana Birman told Newsmax that there were two demonstrations within a week at her school, adding that it is “so frustrating and honestly, I'm just tired of it. ...The [Hamas-Israel] war has been going on for over a year. There are still hostages...in Gaza, and yet there is still so much misinformation going around. These people, I don't know if they are ignorant or if there are just unwilling to be educated, but either way it is really upsetting.”
When asked if foreigners on visas who demonstrate should be deported, Birman answered that “[T]hese people should know that their attendance in the school is kind of contingent on doing the right thing, as it is for any student...organizing all these protests, damaging university property, that is enough of a reason to receive a punishment.”
Regarding a petition signed by 125,000 people demanding the release of a Palestinian activist arrested by ICE for playing a large role in the protests at the campus, Birman said that “I just don't understand it. This guy has been the leader of many of the protests and the occupations of different buildings at the university. and people are saying, ‘He is such a good guy, though. He's been such a good student, and he is really great friend of mine,’ and I don't understand how someone can be such a great person and be so hateful.”
The Trump administration last week canceled contracts and grants to Columbia totaling $400 million due to its “inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students,” the General Services Administration announced on Friday in a joint statement with the Department of Justice, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, saying that the canceled funds would come out of $5 billion in grants that had been committed to Columbia.
Regarding this, Birman said that “I think it is really a big threat and it has already has had an impact...the university needs to understand that something must be done about this issue.”