RUTHFULLY YOURS

Columbia University Apartheid Divest has issued a statement that reads:

• “Columbia University Apartheid Divest is a coalition of student organizations that see Palestine as the vanguard for our collective liberation.” Good, please have your female and LGBT members go over to Gaza and see just how “liberated” they are in that environment.
• “Israel is bombing hospitals, schools, and homes while cutting off food, water, medicine, and electricity to the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, half of whom are children.” Hospitals, schools, and homes lose their protected status under the Geneva and Hague Conventions when used for military purposes. This means that Apartheid Divest is intentionally trying to obfuscate Hamas’ war crimes.
• “We have previously refused to focus on concerns pertaining to free speech, academic freedom, and student safety on campus, as they distract from Israel’s actively committing genocide and ethnic cleansing.” This is an application of Joseph Goebbels’ advice to accuse the other side of that which your own side is guilty, as the only genocide was the one attempted by Hamas on October 7.

Here is the list of student organizations that signed this material. Although the names of the student officers are not available, those of the faculty advisors are. If those advisors are not comfortable with the content of this letter, they are free to distance themselves from the organizations in question.

• Students for Justice in Palestine
• Jewish Voice for Peace
• Black Students Organization:
• Student Workers of Columbia
• DAR: Palestine Students Union
• Barnard Columbia Abolition Collective
• Young Democratic Socialists of America
• Sunrise Columbia
• Student Worker Solidarity
• Somali Student Association
• Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race Student Advisory Board
• Columbia Queer and Asian
• Asian American Alliance
• Columbia Queer Alliance
• African Students Association
• Housing Equity Project
• Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Interboard
• VP&S Muslim Students Association
• White Coats 4 Black Lives
• Global Learning Exchange
• CU Afghan Student Alliance
• Graduate Muslim Student Association
• Columbia Social Workers for Palestine
• Poetry Slam
• Proud Colors
• Law School Coalition for a Free Palestine
• Black Student Organization
• SIPA Palestine Working Group
• Columbia Vietnamese Students Association
• Columbia Law Students for Palestine
• Columbia National Lawyers Guild
• Muslim Students Association
• African Studies Working Group
• Caribbean Students Association
• Barnard Organization of Soul and Solidarity
• AZINE
• CU Turath
• Columbia Humanitarian Organization for Migration and Emergencies
• Reproductive Justice Collective
• Columbia University Black Pre-Professional Society
• Pakistani Students Association
• Barnard Columbia Urban Review
• Sabor
• Masaha
• Club Bangla
• Mixed Heritage Society
• Columbia Chicanx Caucus
• VP&S Black and Latinx Student Organization
• Columbia Middle Eastern Law Association
• RightsViews (Human Rights Graduate Journal)
• School of Social Work Abolition Caucus
• Hifi Snock Uptown
• Take Back The Night
• Native American Council
• VP&S Global Health Organization
• VP&S Equity and Justice Fellowship
• Columbia Law Restorative Justice Collective
• Mujeres
• The Columbia Review
• Student Organization of Latines
• Alianza
• GSAS Queer Graduate Collective
• CU Amnesty International
• Columbia South Asian Feminisms Alliance
• Union Theological Seminary Students for a Free Palestine
• Muslim Law Students Association
• Columbia Law Parole Advocacy Project
• Mariachi Leones de Columbia
• Columbia Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association
• Columbia Law and Political Economy
• Columbia Care Access Project
• Columbia University Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

I do not see this as reflecting well on Columbia University, because good citizenship and informed voting rely on accurate knowledge of world events, and the fact that so many student organizations signed the indicated statement tells me this is not happening at this university.