A controversial and outspoken pro-Israel professor at Columbia University in New York City has been temporarily suspended after the university stated he “repeatedly harassed and intimidated university employees in violation of university policy.”
Shai Davidai, an assistant professor at the business school, has gained prominence on campus and social media for his aggressive pro-Israel advocacy and criticism of pro-Palestine students and faculty, whom he frequently accuses of supporting “terrorism.”
Davidai announced his suspension on Instagram, stating in a profanity-laden video that “the university has decided to not allow me to be on campus anymore. My job. Why? Because of October 7. Because I was not afraid to stand up to the hateful mob.”
He claimed the suspension was retaliation for posting multiple videos of his conversations with university public safety officials during a protest on October 7 by the pro-Palestine Columbia University Apartheid Divest student group. Davidai suggested he might sue the university over the suspension, asserting, “I am not going anywhere.”
“I don’t care about my future,” he wrote later on X. “I care about what this acceptance of anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli, and anti-American terrorism means for the students on campus.”
Recently, Davidai has used his X account, which boasts over 100,000 followers, to accuse prominent Columbia professor Rashid Khalidi of being a “spokesperson for Hamas” and shared the name and email of another professor he claimed was “OK with rape, murder, torture and kidnapping.”
Students have lodged numerous complaints against Davidai, with many denouncing his harassment over the past year. Following his suspension, some students took to social media to criticize the university for its delayed response to his behavior.
“I have been reporting him nonstop since October 2023 for many things, including making video edits of me, and only now that he has absolutely lost his mind at Columbia administrators did they finally take action against him,” one student posted on X.
Another student stated, “The Columbia business professor who has targeted me for months, retweeted inappropriate comments about my body, and claimed I was part of Hamas while we evacuated my family from Gaza (we’re Palestinian Christians) is now banned from Columbia’s campus for harassment.”
She added that Davidai had made a video suggesting the US National Guard should intervene against student protesters and referred to campus security officers as “members of Nazi Germany.”
Despite numerous reports accusing him of harassment, it seems Davidai’s intimidation of Cas Holloway, the university’s chief operating officer, prompted the administration’s action.
In a statement to the Columbia Daily Spectator, university spokesperson Millie Wert clarified, “Columbia has consistently and continually respected Assistant Professor Davidai’s right to free speech and to express his views. His freedom of speech has not been limited and is not being limited now. However, Columbia does not tolerate threats of intimidation, harassment, or other threatening behavior by its employees.”
