36 No. 74 JUSTICE Congressional testimony, Yakoby felt he had made the right decision. The April 2024 Gaza Solidarity Encampments and pro-Palestine protests at Penn further validated his decision to sue in order to “restore the Penn I love, not to burn it to the ground.” Over the past year, Yakoby became a political commentator, often posting on X supporting Israel, condemning antisemitism in higher education, and endorsing President Donald Trump. This was accompanied by harassment and backlash, including threatening emails with photos of his front door, which led Yakoby to hire private security. Nonetheless, he remains steadfast in his stances, advocating against antisemitism. “It's a lot easier to put your head down and go through the motions. And I think courage is an expensive currency,” he reflected. “I think every proud Jew at Penn should be suing.” The experience of Yakoby was common among Jewish students who decided to take a public stand against antisemitism. Eden Yadegar, a then-junior at Columbia University when the October 7 massacre took place, spent the first two years of college loving her campus and class experiences, as well as learning from her peers.8 As a Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies major, she read books that she said she never knew existed while sitting by the campus swimming pool. Two weeks before October 7, the president of Columbia’s chapter of Students Supporting Israel (SSI) left for Israel, and Yadegar became the president of the student group, hoping to educate students about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and gain support for Israel. On October 7, Yadegar heard what had happened and went to a pro-Israel rally with friends. As she walked through campus, she observed classmates designing posters in the middle of Columbia’s campus, “Resistance is justified under occupation.” At that time, Israel was still counting the bodies of its victims, it was unclear how many hostages had been taken, and Hamas members were still inside the border of Israel. For Yadegar, that was the moment she needed to become a pro-Israel leader at Columbia. Days later, on October 12, SJP and Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) held the first pro-Palestine demonstration on Columbia’s campus following the start of the war. Yadegar led an SSI counter-demonstration, where hundreds of Jewish students stood in silence on Columbia’s campus for 22 minutes, one second for each of the people killed on October 7. The students held posters of the hostages who had been taken into captivity only a few days before, as pro-Palestine students chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Over the next few weeks, Yadegar and the SSI board held several meetings and email exchanges with the university administration.9 She raised several complaints about SJP and JVP violating university policies at their protests, including their amplified sound and masking. The university canceled an SSI event, due to “supposed concerns that Columbia would be unable to ensure safety at the event,” according to Yadegar’s complaint. The university said that no clubs on campus could hold events with “buzzwords” such as “Israel” or “Palestine,” the complaint reads. However, in the weeks following, SJP and JVP continued to hold events without facing sanctions, while SSI canceled its future events in compliance with the university’s policies By March 2024, Yadegar testified before the congressional roundtable about on-campus antisemitism organized by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, along with students from eight other universities.10 “We have been attacked with sticks outside of our library, we have been surrounded by angry mobs, and we have been threatened to, quote, ‘Keep fucking running,’” she said at the roundtable. “How many more times must it be proven that unreprimanded, violent rhetoric can lead to physical violence?” In February, Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP filed a lawsuit against Columbia on behalf of five Jewish students and two organizations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and in July 2024, they amended the lawsuit to add 32 more Jewish students, including Yadegar. Yadegar noted that she is “grateful to Kasowitz Benson Torres 8. Spencer Davis, “Eden Yadegar, GS/JTS ’25, on becoming the face of the pro-Israel movement at Columbia,” COLUMBIA SPECTATOR (May 19, 2025), available at https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/05/19/ eden-yadegar-gsjts-25-on-becoming-the-face-of-thepro-israel-movement-at-columbia/ 9. Amended Complaint at 49, 53, Students Against Antisemitism v. Trs. of Columbia Univ. in the City of N.Y., No. 1:24-cv-01306 (S.D.N.Y. June 17, 2024), ECF No. 39. 10. Noah Bernstein and Rebecca Massel, “‘The Jewish community is alone’: Columbia SSI president speaks at congressional roundtable,” COLUMBIA SPECTATOR (March 1, 2024), available at https://www.columbiaspectator. com/news/2024/03/01/the-jewish-community-is-alonecolumbia-ssi-president-speaks-at-congressionalroundtable/
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgzNzA=