Pro-Hamas Protests at Columbia U Graduation Reflect Alarming Trend of Politicized Anti-Semitism

By: Fern Sidman

The disruption of Columbia University’s graduation ceremony on Tuesday morning by pro-Hamas and pro-terror activists marks yet another chapter in the deeply troubling erosion of academic integrity and neutrality at one of America’s most prestigious universities. According to a report that appeared on NBC News, acting Columbia President Claire Shipman was met with  sustained booing, jeering, and chants of “Free Mahmoud” during her speech on Tuesday morning to the Columbia College Class of 2025, turning what should have been a celebration of academic achievement into a political spectacle driven by extreme ideological fervor.

The target of these chants was Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born graduate student and green card holder who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in March for allegedly violating the terms of his residency status. According to the information provided in the NBC News report, Khalil had played a leading role in organizing anti-Israel rallies on Columbia’s campus — many of which, observers note, featured openly inflammatory rhetoric and support for groups considered terrorist organizations by U.S. and international law.

What unfolded on Tuesday morning was not a spontaneous outpouring of student solidarity, but a coordinated protest with a familiar script: hijack a public platform, deploy slogans that glorify alleged victims of U.S. and Israeli policy, and vilify any administrator who fails to align fully with the activist agenda.

As reported by NBC News, Shipman’s remarks were drowned out for over a minute by booing and shouting, reflecting a simmering hostility among segments of the student body who believe the administration has not gone far enough in siding with pro-Palestinian activists. When Shipman attempted to open her speech by acknowledging student frustration, she was again shouted down.

“Good morning, class of 2025. I know that many of you feel some amount of frustration with me and I know you feel it with the administration,” she said, only to be met with renewed boos.

Chants of “Free Mahmoud” resumed ten minutes later, forcing Shipman to pause again. She resumed her remarks once the jeers subsided but pointedly refused to respond to the chant, signaling the administration’s growing exasperation with the relentless politicization of university events.

.@Columbia and @ClaireShipman,@ColumbiaBDS is set to disruption the university wide graduation tomorrow.

There will be thousands of students and family members in attendance for this event.

We hope you have all security measures set in place to ensure that the graduation… pic.twitter.com/ulPidvo9Nq

— Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus at Columbia U (@CampusJewHate) May 20, 2025

The disturbances call attention to Columbia’s continued struggle to balance academic order with demands for radical political expression, particularly in the context of the Israel-Hamas war, as was indicated in the NBC News report.

The protestors’ cause célèbre, Mahmoud Khalil, has become a symbol of anti-Israel and anti-American grievance politics in activist circles. But as NBC News has reported, Khalil’s immigration status and his potential deportation are not the result of arbitrary persecution, but of specific legal and national security concerns, especially as the Trump administration steps up enforcement against foreign nationals accused of advocating violence or aligning with hostile foreign actors.

Supporters of Khalil insist his detention is unjust, casting him as a victim of U.S. foreign policy. But many observers — including those in the Jewish community — see something else entirely: a dangerous whitewashing of radical political activism under the guise of humanitarian concern.

In this view, the “Free Mahmoud” campaign is not about due process or immigrant rights. It’s about glorifying an activist whose primary contribution to campus life has been organizing mass protests that demonize Israel, disrupt university operations, and foster a climate of intimidation for Jewish students.

In a parallel development reported by NBC News and the Associated Press, another Columbia student, Mohsen Mahdawi, also drew attention for his political messaging during graduation. Mahdawi, who was detained during a citizenship interview in Vermont last month and later released on bail, walked the stage wearing a keffiyeh — a political symbol increasingly associated with anti-Israel movements — and used the opportunity to lambast the university administration.

https://t.co/Kt8oBOqltA

— UFHealth Whistleblower Kathleen Maynard 🇵🇸Ⓥ (@IhoPwaitress74) May 20, 2025

“The senior administration is selling the soul of this university to the Trump administration, participating in the destruction and the degradation of our democracy,” Mahdawi said, according to NBC News.

Such accusations — devoid of any credible evidence — are emblematic of a broader trend in which university leaders are accused of fascism simply for enforcing basic campus policies and national laws.

While activist media and some progressive commentators have tried to frame these protests as part of a legitimate struggle for Palestinian rights, the pattern of hostility toward Israel — and by extension, toward Jewish students and institutions — cannot be ignored.

As NBC News has noted in recent weeks, Columbia University has become a ground zero for anti-Israel activism, much of it cloaked in the language of social justice, but often veering into openly anti-Semitic tropes, such as blaming “Zionists” for global conflict or likening Israel to Nazi Germany.

For many Jewish students, these protest actions — including the now-routine disruptions of ceremonies and events — are not abstract political debates. They represent a direct threat to their identity, their safety, and their sense of belonging on campus.

The use of graduation ceremonies — sacred milestones in the lives of young scholars — as staging grounds for partisan, inflammatory activism further illustrates how anti-Semitism today often hides behind the mask of humanitarian concern, rebranding ancient hatreds in modern political language.

The disruption of Columbia’s graduation is a sobering reminder of what happens when universities fail to enforce their own codes of conduct and allow extremist ideologies to dominate campus discourse. If administrators continue to allow these spectacles to unfold unchallenged, they risk turning their institutions into echo chambers of radicalism, where free speech is reserved for the loudest voices and academic neutrality is replaced by political absolutism.

It becomes increasingly clear that the current wave of campus activism — though often described as progressive — too often excludes, marginalizes, or even vilifies the Jewish community, all under the banner of “justice.”

Columbia University’s latest graduation disruptions are not isolated events, but part of a growing and deeply troubling trend across American higher education. While calls for social justice remain a vital part of civic life, they must not become vehicles for bigotry, disruption, and the normalization of anti-Semitism.

As the Jewish community faces rising threats at home and abroad, the failure of institutions such as Columbia to stand firm against these tactics speaks volumes. What students need now — more than performative politics — is moral clarity, courage from leadership, and an unwavering commitment to the core values of academic integrity and human dignity for all, including Jews and Israelis.