White House rips Columbia protest leader’s ‘dangerous and appalling statements’

The White House sharply criticized comments that resurfaced this week from a student leader of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.

“These dangerous and appalling statements are stomach-churning and should serve as a wake-up call. It is horrible to advocate the murder of Jews,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement Friday.

“President Biden has made clear that violent rhetoric, hate speech and anti-Semitic comments have no place in America and he will always oppose them,” he added.

In a January video, student Khymani James said that “Zionists don’t deserve to live,” and could also be heard saying that people should “be grateful that we’re not just going out and murdering Zionists.”

James’ comments came around the same time he met with school officials over a social media post about fighting a Zionist.

“I don’t fight to hurt or to have a winner or loser, I fight to kill,” he said at the time.

The student apologized Friday in a social media post, acknowledging that his comments were “wrong.”

A Columbia spokesperson declined to comment on James’ case.

“Calls for violence and statements directed at individuals based on their religious, ethnic or national identity are unacceptable and violate university policy,” the spokesperson said.

The White House also condemned calls for “violence and physical intimidation against Jewish students” last week, as student protests centered on the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, escalated on campuses. university students across the country.

“While every American has the right to peaceful protest, calls for violence and physical intimidation against Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly anti-Semitic, unscrupulous, and dangerous – they have absolutely no place on any college campus, or in any place in the United States of America,” Bates said on Sunday.

Columbia officials said in a statement Friday that the student has been banned from campus.