Columbia University President Nemat Shafik testifies before Congress about university conflicts over the war between Israel and Hamas.

WASHINGTON– The president of Columbia University took a strong stance against anti-Semitism Wednesday, rejecting accusations from Republicans who see the New York campus as a hotbed of prejudice, but she was evasive about whether certain phrases invoked by some supporters of the Palestinians give rise to harassment.

Nemat Shafik had the benefit of hindsight and months of preparation as he faced a Congressional hearing on the Ivy League school’s response to anti-Semitism and conflict on campus following the Hamas attack on Israel on September 7. October. She arrived at the Capitol four months after a similar hearing that led to the resignation of two Ivy League presidents.

From the beginning, he took a more decisive stance than the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, who gave legal answers when asked whether calls for the genocide of Jews would violate school policies.

When asked the same question, Shafik and three other Columbia leaders unequivocally answered yes. But Shafik hesitated on specific phrases.

Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., asked him if phrases like “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” or “long live the intifada” are anti-Semitic.

“I hear them like that, but some people don’t,” Shafik said.

McClain asked the same question to David Schizer, who heads a working group on anti-Semitism at Columbia. He responded that those phrases are anti-Semitic.

Shafik acknowledged an increase in anti-Semitism since October, but said university leaders have been working tirelessly to protect students. Refuting accusations that he has been soft on violators, Shafik said 15 students were suspended and six are on probation for violating new rules restricting protests on campus.

“These are more disciplinary actions than have been taken probably in the last decade at Columbia,” he said. “And I promise you, from the messages I hear from students, they understand that violations will have consequences.”

In another heated exchange, Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican and a driving force behind the hearings, grilled Shafik about faculty and staff who have expressed support for Hamas or opposition to Israel. She asked about Mohamed Abdou, an Arab studies professor who expressed his support for Hamas on social media after October 7.

“He is grading his students’ papers and will never teach at Columbia again,” she said.

Stefanik said she heard that Abdou attended a pro-Palestinian rally on Columbia’s campus Wednesday morning, in apparent violation of the school’s new rules.

“Mr. Abdou is not grading papers at this time,” Stefanik said. “He is on campus at the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and unauthorized event that is supported by pro-Hamas activists on campus.”

The campus protest was led by students who want the Ivy League school to divest from companies with ties to Israel.

Some Columbia students who support the Palestinians were frustrated that they were not allowed to participate in the hearing.

Speaking to reporters, Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who is Muslim, criticized the decision to keep students away.

“This is not an honest conversation we are having today in this committee,” Omar said. “The fact that these young people came from Colombia to be in this hearing so that their voices could be heard and they were not allowed is, I think, a disservice to our democracy.”

Shafik was originally asked to testify at the House Education and Workforce Committee hearing in December, but she declined due to scheduling conflicts.

Although he acknowledged anti-Semitism on campus, he argued that the “vast majority” of protests have been peaceful and said he has held more than 200 meetings on the issue since taking office.

His view clashes with that presented by Republicans in Congress and some Jewish students who say anti-Semitism has gone unchecked at Columbia, citing a Jewish student who was beaten on campus while putting up Israeli hostage posters and protesters who shouted slogans. which some consider a calling. for the genocide of the Jews.

“We’ve seen that too little has been done, too late, to counter that and protect students and staff,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., committee chairwoman. “Columbia is guilty of gross negligence at best and, at worst, has become a platform for those who support terrorism and violence against the Jewish people.”

Foxx and Stefanik appeared with Jewish Columbia students who said they were threatened and physically confronted. They described a student having Star of David necklaces ripped off as he walked to class and mocked students who said “the Holocaust wasn’t that special.”

Stefanik said Republicans will hold Columbia accountable for failing to protect students.

The December hearing featured the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose attorneys’ responses sparked a fierce backlash and fueled weeks of controversy.

During a heated series of questions in December, Stefanik asked the presidents to answer whether “calling for the genocide of the Jews” would violate each university’s code of conduct.

Liz Magill, then president of Penn, and Claudine Gay, then president of Harvard, said it would depend on the specifics of the situation. MIT President Sally Kornbluth said that she had not heard any calls for the genocide of Jews on the MIT campus, and that speech “directed at individuals, without making public statements,” would be considered harassment.

Almost immediately, the careful responses of university presidents drew criticism from donors, alumni and politicians. Magill resigned shortly after the hearing and Gay resigned in January following accusations of plagiarism.

In an op-ed published Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal, Shafik emphasized the delicate balance between protecting free speech and fostering a safe environment for students on campus.

“Calling for the genocide of a people – whether Israelis or Palestinians, Jews, Muslims or anyone else – has no place in a university community,” Shafik wrote. “Those words are outside the bounds of legitimate debate and are unimaginably harmful.”