WASHINGTON, D.C. — Jewish students involved in the protest at Columbia University say their pro-Palestinian activism is driven by their faith — nonetheless.
On Tuesday, a group of Jewish student activists met with members of the US Congress in Washington, D.C., to tell their stories.
Columbia University in New York was the flashpoint as students protests against Israeli war in Gaza swept the country last year.
The university was built to see one of the country’s first student camps and demand that it end investments in businesses complicated by human rights abuses be put an end to it. Shortly after tents began to pop up, campus also witnessed some of the first mass arrests of student protesters in the Palestinian solidarity movement.
That visibility has made Columbia a focus on President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on what he called “illegal protests” and what he called campus anti-Semitism.
Earlier this year, Colombian student Mahmoud Khalil became the first student activist to be detained by the Trump administration and targeted for deportation.
A delegation of Jewish students came to Congress on Tuesday to push for the incident in which Halil and others like him should not be detained in their names. They met with at least 17 Democrats from both the House and Senate.
Al Jazeera spoke with several students who participated in the lobbying day. It was organized by the advocacy organization, Peace for the Jewish Voice (JVP) Action. Here are some of their stories:
Tali Beckwyth Cohen
History’s Major Tali Beckwyth Cohen, who grew up in upstate New York, said he grew up in a community where Zionism is the norm. She remembers being told “myths” about Palestine, “a land without people for landless people.”
However, when she began studying Palestinian history and met the Palestinians, Beckwith Cohen said her beliefs were challenged.
Eventually, after the war in Gaza began in October 2023, she became involved in Palestinian rights activities.
Human rights groups and UN experts have found evidence that Israeli tactics in Gaza are “consistent with genocide.” So far, more than 52,615 Palestinians have been killed in conflict.
“For a long time I had this kind of discomfort, this feeling of wrestling, this feeling of cognitive dissonance. Beckwyth Cohen told Al Jazeera.
“We see bombing, neglect for human life, children, hospitals, schools. It forced me to make a choice.”
She emphasized that protests are a space of solidarity and that students from all backgrounds are committed to the idea that their safety is intertwined.
“There is a lot about the media story about what is going on at the Columbia campus.
“So we are here today to tell people in Congress that what we see on campus is not just a student peacefully advocating the end of genocide, but an authoritarian and fascist oppression of all dissent.”
Karly Shaffer
When Kari Schaffer raised concerns about Israeli escalation in Gaza on a university’s whatsapp chat, some of her fellow students raised questions about her Judaism.
Of the hundreds of people chatting, she remembers that Halil, an activist arrested in deportation, was the only person who contacted her directly to refuse any comments she received.
When she came to know Halil, she began to see him as the “embodiment” of anyone who cares about the safety of all students on campus.
Shaffer told Al Jazeera that when Khalil was arrested she felt “sick” and “terrifying.” Her discomfort got worse when she saw the Trump White House celebrated her detention on social media with the phrase “Shalom, Mahmoud.”
With a master’s degree in human rights and social policy, Shaffer grew up in California and was raised by a single mother from a low-income household.
She said opposition to injustice, including Palestine, is a practice rooted in her Jewish faith.
“Colombian protests, it’s a movement of love. It’s a movement of solidarity,” Schaffer said. “And Jewish students are also crucial and important to this movement.”
She said when Jewish student protesters held religious events on campus, fellow encampments from the campus joined them and asked them about their traditions.
“These are the same students who are portrayed as anti-Semitic, and are not in the way to learn about Passover and celebrate Jewish holidays with Jewish friends,” Schaffer told Al Jazeera.
She condemned the “anti-Semitism weapons” and said the issue was being used to shut down conversations about Israeli atrocities in Gaza.
“Jewish students are used as pawns on Trump’s political agenda,” she said. “And the weaponization of anti-Semitism to dismantle this movement is not merely a threat to Jewish students. It is a threat to all of us. That’s why it is very important for us to have Jewish students directly correct this false narrative.”
Sarah Bors
Sarah Bors, a Bernard University student who was arrested for cracking down on a Columbia camp, said she grew up in an anti-Zionist family in the “very Zionist community.”
She felt it was important for Jewish students to communicate their experiences directly to those in power in Washington, D.C.
“We’ll talk to members of the Congress and tell them our stories that have been removed from mainstream news,” Bors told Al Jazeera.
“Trump’s mission is not to protect Jewish students, but to use the fear of anti-Semitism because of the way Gaza’s solidarity camp was portrayed last year.
When asked how she felt about her potential backlash against her activism, Bors admitted that the current political situation left her fearful.
“I’m scared, but with the grand plans of things I’m proud of the choices I’ve made,” she said. “I wouldn’t make another thing and if that had to be done, I’m willing to take the risk.”
Shay Orentlicher
Shay Orentlicher has no regrets about joining the Columbia University camp despite administrative and political crackdowns.
Orentlicher said Christian nationalists are trying to erase the perspectives of Palestinian Jewish students and define Judaism in a way that suits their political purposes.
However, he said protesting against the murder of Palestinians was an expression of both Jewish and humanist values. And Orentricher believes the Colombian demonstrations have helped raise awareness nationwide.
“In spite of the pain we faced, and despite our concern that we weren’t doing enough to stop genocide, we weren’t doing enough to stand up for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
“And we’ve also built a really beautiful community, and I have no regrets about what I did. I won’t change anything.”
Raffy
Raffy, who chose to identify by his name alone, said he grew up “very Zionist.” However, when he learned more about the conflict between the Israelites and the Palestinians, he felt he had been fooled.
“For example, the Jewish primary school I went to had a map of Israel. It was like a diamond. There was no West Bank or Gaza,” he said.
“When I saw the actual maps on the occupied territory, I was like, ‘Wait, I lied.’ And so, they went on this whole journey of exploring what Zionism is, what occupation is, what colonialism is, what colonialism is of the settlers. ”
Raffy, a mathematics student, said the war with Gaza, the protests on campus, and the backlash that student protesters faced made him feel “a personal responsibility to fight for the right thing.”
In his experience, demonstrations were welcome, not anti-Semitism. He said that what was anti-Semitism was the fact that the universities targeted Jewish student protesters because of their political views.
Several students, including Laffey, said Colombia refused to grant the necessary permissions to students related to the Jewish Voice for peace to present religious celebrations in public places. They described the rejection as a form of discrimination.
The university did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment by the time of publication.
Raffy also elicited a distinction between feeling uncomfortable about ideas that challenge her worldview and not actually safe.
“In college, it’s normal to encounter new perspectives, new perspectives. That’s how I became more pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist,” he said. “I felt uncomfortable when I first came across anti-Zionist views, but then I grew up to understand them. That’s normal.”
Rafi emphasized that real suffering is taking place in Gaza.
“Of course, students who are not safe right now are Gaza students. All Gaza universities have been destroyed. They have no food for 60 days.”