Columbia students push back against executive order threatening Palestinian students
A proposed executive order targeting pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University has sparked intense debate and concern among Israeli and Israeli-Jewish students on campus. The order, which could lead to the deportation of Palestinian students, has raised alarms about academic freedom, campus safety, and the broader implications for reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.
This proposed action prompted a cohort of Israeli and Palestinian students at Columbia University to pen an op-ed in Columbia’s premier student publication, The Columbia Spectator. The piece calls for the university to protect impacted students and condemns threats to students, as well as the immediate fallout that came after.
Among the signatories are American-Israeli activist Josh Drill, who recently relocated back to the United States to pursue a master’s degree at Columbia University, and Sahar Bostock, an Israeli-Jewish student studying in a PhD program in Palestinian history at the same institution. Both have emphasized that students threatened are those who were in attendance of protests, not those who have been charged with any crimes connected to the protest movement on campus.
President Donald Trump’s January 29 executive order, “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism” would deport students who attended the protests. Drill and Bostock, who work with a group of peace-seeking Israelis and Palestinians on campus, have emphasized that this also teeters on disregarding free speech by silencing those with differing views.
“This executive order is essentially calling anyone criticizing Israel as a Hamas supporter, which is not the case,” Drill told The Jerusalem Post. “We’re concerned about the impact on individuals and the ability to criticize Israel," the pair stated, emphasizing the importance of open discourse in academic spaces. "This act seeks to label any criticism of Israel as antisemitism," highlighting the dangers of conflating legitimate criticism with hate speech.
In the Spectator op-ed, the students write: “The consequences of the executive order’s stipulations, which call for the removal of “alien students,” are cruel and unusual. Interrupting a student’s studies and forcing them to return to a country or territory where activism could be seen as a threat, or which are active war zones, is a terrifying consequence that we are morally obligated to publicly oppose. Even more egregiously, the executive order entrenches an environment of fear and distrust in our campus communities.
"By encouraging institutions to ‘monitor and report activities by alien students and staff,’ the executive order promotes a culture of surveillance where citizens are incentivized to inform US Immigration and Customs Enforcement through tip lines about the behavior of others. We reject any legal action based on deliberately vague definitions of antisemitism.”
Both parties have stressed the need for spaces where Israelis and Palestinians can collaborate, share perspectives, and work toward peace. Such environments, they argue, are essential in fostering mutual understanding and preventing the deepening of divisions between the two communities.
Campus tensions and the threat to Palestinian students
Amid escalating tensions on campus, Palestinian students at Columbia have reported facing threats of deportation. Many of these students, who regularly engage with Israeli counterparts in peaceful discussions, now fear for their academic and personal futures. In community groups over social media and messaging platforms, students are reporting others to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “The environment that is now created is one of fear," said Drill. "Our friends are under threat of deportation, and we feel that we need to do something to stop it."
Columbia University, historically known for its advocacy of free speech and protection of student rights, now faces the challenge of ensuring the safety and academic security of Palestinian students in the wake of the executive order. Jewish student groups and faculty members have penned letters and op-eds condemning the measure, urging the administration to take a stand against policies that threaten student rights.
Beyond campus, the discussion has also extended to broader geopolitical concerns, including the feasibility of the Trump administration’s plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza. The proposal, which has received mixed reactions in Israel, though still largely supportive of the proposal, has been criticized for its lack of feasibility and potential human rights violations.
“With this executive order and Trump’s other comments, people like to call it chat. But chat can quickly turn into action, we cannot stand by and let this happen,” the duo stated.
Now, this cohort of peace builders believe that Columbia University has a crucial opportunity to take an active role in protecting students from politically motivated deportations and fostering dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian communities. "The university has the ability to provide legal assistance to students threatened with deportation," said Drill. “Beyond legal aid, Columbia can facilitate discussions that encourage reconciliation rather than division.”
Recognizing shared suffering and the path to peace
Palestinian and Israeli students involved have acknowledged that the killing needs to stop, Drill emphasized.
As the debate over the executive order continues, Columbia University finds itself at the center of a critical moment in the Israeli-Palestinian discourse on campus. While students and faculty push back against the measure, advocating for the rights of Palestinian students, the broader conversation remains focused on fostering inclusive spaces that allow for genuine dialogue and understanding. Ultimately, the response to this executive order will not only shape campus policies but also set a precedent for how universities navigate complex political issues in the years to come.
“To be clear, we acknowledge that antisemitic incidents did take place at some pro-Palestinian protests on campus and that antisemitism in the United States is on the rise,” the op-ed states. “However, the Trump administration’s executive order distorts this issue by lumping together students who engaged in peaceful pro-Palestinian activism with those who genuinely support terror groups. At the same time, Trump’s directive ignores the real and growing threats posed by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups in the United States, which continue to incite violence and hatred towards Jewish people.”
Now, Columbia students praying for peace have to wait and see: will their university act as the sanctuary they claim to be, or will students be left to fend for themselves?