Columbia University Students Face Harassment and Doxxing Over Pro-Palestine Activism
The Doxxing Truck Incident
The unrest at Columbia University began more than six months ago, well before the recent protests. In the aftermath of Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7th, a truck covered in LED screens displaying the names and photos of numerous Columbia students circled a pro-Palestine demonstration near the university. The truck, funded by the conservative group Accuracy in Media, labeled the students as “Columbia’s Leading Antisemites.”
One computer science undergraduate, who wished to remain anonymous, shared her experience with me at the Columbia encampment on Tuesday. She explained that her name appeared on the truck because a club she no longer belonged to had signed an open letter urging Columbia to sever ties with Israel. The incident left her traumatized, causing her to erase her online presence and avoid leaving her apartment or attending classes.
Balancing Activism and Privacy Concerns
Pro-Palestine activists at Columbia and other institutions have struggled to balance their public advocacy with growing concerns over their privacy and safety. Individuals who have participated in marches, rallies, fundraisers for displaced Palestinians, or certain campus organizations have found themselves and their families targeted by relentless online harassment after their names were publicized by anonymous accounts claiming to combat antisemitism. Some have even lost their jobs as a result.
The students targeted by the “doxxing truck” believe the intent was clear: they were being intimidated for supporting Palestinians and, in some cases, for their race or religion. One student, the former president of an Arab cultural group on campus, sued Accuracy in Media in November for defamation and stigmatization, despite not having signed the letter.
The Weaponization of Personal Information
Within the enclosed environment of a college campus, a student’s name is not highly sensitive information. However, when placed in a specific context and disseminated through certain media channels outside the university, a name becomes a liability and a weapon that can be used against students by bad-faith actors.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Columbia alum involved with Students for Justice in Palestine as an undergraduate, spoke with administrators in October to help them understand the severity of the targeting students faced due to the ongoing doxxing. Despite Columbia announcing a “doxxing resource group” in November, Avila Chevalier and other students found the response inadequate. (Columbia University did not respond to a request for comment.)
The Canary Mission Database
Avila Chevalier, who graduated from Columbia in 2016, was one of the first students featured on Canary Mission, a database that claims to expose antisemitism. Since its inception, Canary Mission has conflated antisemitic hate speech with pro-Palestinian activism. Avila Chevalier was added to the database for her involvement in the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement. The Israeli government has used Canary Mission to bar political activists from entering the country, as reported by Haaretz in 2018. Since October 7th, Canary Mission has doxxed protesters across the country.
A graduate student involved in the encampment challenged the notion that protesting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is antisemitic, stating that many of the organizers are Jewish students and that the encampment hosted a Passover celebration and seder, which is often overlooked. The graduate student had previously been doxxed by Canary Mission for his undergraduate activism at a different university.
The quad of Columbia University on April 25th, 2024.
Police Intervention and the Resurgence of the Encampment
The previous week, riot police broke up an encampment set up by student protesters at Columbia University. University president Minouche Shafik claimed she sent the officers in for students’ safety, stating in a statement that the encampment violated new policies, disrupted campus life, and created a harassing and intimidating environment for many students.
Police arrested over 100 students who had occupied Columbia’s south lawn, demanding the university divest its $13 billion endowment from companies supporting Israel. Officers dismantled the tents around 4 AM and trampled signs declaring the encampment a “liberated zone,” reminiscent of the 1968 anti-war protests that swept college campuses nationwide. Within a day, the tents were back, with hundreds of new students replacing their arrested classmates who had been banned from campus.
Inside the Encampment
Visitors to the encampment are greeted by a tall sign displaying community guidelines (no littering, drugs, alcohol, engaging with counterprotesters, or talking to police) and volunteers in yellow vests controlling the influx of people. The lawn is a labyrinth of green and blue tents, some adorned with Palestinian flags. The arrangement appears to change daily, with tents going up and down and tables being rearranged, but the sense of organized chaos remains. The ”liberated zone,” as the students call it, is a hive of activity, with students unpacking snacks, making signs, and wearing DIY shirts with slogans like “Minouche Sha-fuck you.” Nearly all the students are masked, while the reporters are identifiable by their press badges and uncovered faces.
You see people trying to make themselves almost unrecognizable out of fear
Columbia University Faces Backlash Amid Student Protests and Faculty Walkout
Muslim and Arab Students Feel Targeted on Campus
Dalia, a Palestinian first-year student at Columbia University, enrolled at the prestigious institution because of the legacy of renowned professors like postcolonial scholar Edward Said. However, she now perceives the campus as a hostile environment for Muslim and Arab students. The recent posting of a video by Shai Davidai, an adjunct professor at Columbia’s business school, depicting Muslim students praying, has further exacerbated tensions.
“I think the fact that such open anti-Palestinian rhetoric, anti-Islam rhetoric is able to proliferate by members of this community — by certain faculty — without any single response or utterance from the administration is crazy,” Dalia said.
During a congressional hearing last week, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) questioned Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger about Davidai’s actions. Bollinger responded that Davidai was under investigation for harassment and emphasized that attacking students is unacceptable. On Monday, Davidai was denied entry to Columbia’s main campus, although he retained access to the business school.
Student Protesters Establish Media Operation and Face Criticism
In the aftermath of the NYPD’s arrest of the initial wave of protesters, the students occupying the quad set up a media operation to manage press interactions. Reporters are granted limited access to the encampment and are asked to refrain from photographing students without their consent. Instead of directly approaching protesters for interviews, reporters are required to wait in a designated press area until student liaisons bring forth individuals interested in being interviewed.
After months of doxxings, student demonstrators at Columbia University obscure their faces.
Critics in the media have accused the student protesters of illiberally trying to stifle the free press. The students, however, maintain that their measures aim to protect the most vulnerable among them while ensuring that their message—the demand for Columbia to divest from business interests in Israel—remains at the forefront.
Protesters Face Harassment and Threats
Several students reported experiencing harassment after speaking to the press. Jonathan Ben-Menachem, a PhD candidate in Columbia’s sociology department, received a deluge of emails accusing him of being a “self-hating Jew” after writing an essay about feeling safe on campus. Jared, a graduate student at Columbia, mentioned that he and other Jewish students have been labeled “Judenrat” and “kapos” for supporting the encampment.
“I had previously been giving interviews with my last name, and a family member of mine was left a voicemail asking if he was a self-hating Jew just like me,” said Jared, adding that Arab and Muslim students are bearing the brunt of the harassment.
The Encampment: A Peaceful Gathering of Students
A graduate student described the student encampment as “basically just a bunch of nerds.”
Despite the external threats and media portrayal, the encampment itself is remarkably peaceful. Students can be seen lounging in their tents, completing homework assignments, and engaging in casual interactions. The quad features a craft corner where participants create pro-Palestine signs, and a snack table equipped with essential supplies like sunscreen, water bottles, and ibuprofen.
“It’s basically just a bunch of nerds,” Jared told me on Wednesday. “And then I go home, check Twitter, and I hear like, ’Pro-Hamas mob has taken over Columbia.’ There’s a huge disparity between what’s going on here and how it’s been portrayed by the media.”
Faculty Walkout in Support of Arrested Students
On Monday afternoon, hundreds of Columbia faculty members participated in a walkout to show solidarity with the arrested students. They demanded that Columbia lift the suspensions and reinstate campus access for the affected individuals. Christopher Brown, a professor of history, addressed the crowd gathered on the university steps, criticizing the administration’s decision to deploy riot police against peaceful protesters as an unjustified and dangerous act.
Brown argued that Bollinger’s crackdown on protesters threatened their safety and undermined the principle of academic freedom. Other professors expressed apprehension about potential repercussions for making even innocuous statements in support of their students. One faculty member, who wished to remain anonymous due to previous online harassment, described a “culture of fear around speaking up for Palestine” at the university.
“I think what we’re seeing is that many faculty are afraid to speak up for their students who have faced harassment, doxxing, arrest, or even eviction over the past several months because their employment at the school is so unprotected and precarious,” the faculty member told me.
More than half of Columbia’s instructors are so-called “contingent” faculty. Over 160 untenured Columbia professors have signed an open letter in support of the arrested, suspended, and protesting students, with nearly half of the signatories choosing to remain anonymous.
Columbia University Students Face Harassment and Doxxing Amid Pro-Palestinian Protests
Encampment on West Lawn Draws National Attention
At a Tuesday press conference, Marianne Hirsch, a literature professor, expressed concern over the university’s handling of the situation, stating that it had created “an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in which some people are afraid to tell you their names.”
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student involved in negotiations with the university administration, highlighted the risks faced by international students. “I am here on a foreign visa. That’s why for the past six months, I’ve barely appeared on the media,” Khalil said. “That’s why I’m not suspended. I did not participate, fearing that I will be arrested and ultimately deported from this country.”
Deadline Set and Extended Amid Threats of National Guard and NYPD Intervention
On Tuesday night, University President Minouche Shafik set a midnight deadline to reach an agreement with students on clearing the West Lawn. According to Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the group behind the encampment, Shafik threatened to call both the National Guard and the NYPD during negotiations. Students prepared for potential arrests, but the deadline was ultimately extended until early Friday morning.
Media Circus and Political Pressure Intensify
The situation attracted significant media attention, with provocateurs like Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys, making an appearance on campus. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) held a press conference, urging President Joe Biden to call in the National Guard and claiming that the protests were “dangerous” and not protected by the First Amendment.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose daughter was among the students suspended when the encampment was initially cleared, also visited the campus on Thursday.
Concerns Over Student Safety and Doxxing
Sofia, an undergraduate student, expressed concerns that the university’s willingness to facilitate arrests could lead to doxxing, as arrest records become public. Some publications, such as the New York Post, had already published identifying information of students arrested on April 18th.
As Palestinians, as Arabs, we have been inherently at risk. However, I also think that there really is no comparison to the horrors that are happening in Gaza, the horrors that are happening in Palestine. No amount of student repression — no amount of doxxing — can be equated to that.
Throughout the week, students redirected the conversation back to the war they were protesting, questioning why their chants were considered violent while counterprotesters seemed to face no consequences for spraying students with hazardous chemicals and sending death threats.
On Thursday night, Christian nationalists rallied in support of Israel outside the university’s locked-down campus, chanting at students and attempting to storm the gates.
4 Comments
Guess it’s time for Columbia to go back to school on cybersecurity, huh?
Seems like Columbia’s “secure” servers were more of an open diary, privacy is officially old school!
So, Columbia University just turned into an open book, huh? Privacy, what’s that!
Looks like Columbia’s cybersecurity could use a major upgrade, talk about an academic nightmare!