Pro-Palestinian group that hosted the imam says it was ‘permanently’ banned from Instagram
An imam told Columbia University students to “take out” a Jewish professor during an event last week hosted by a pro-Palestinian group, according to a video on X.
A few days later, the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine said Instagram “permanently” banned it from the platform. It is not clear if the two incidents are related.
Shai Davidai, a Jewish professor at the Columbia Business School, posted the video. He wrote on X that Students for Justice in Palestine is a “pro-terror organization” and should be permanently banned from campus.
Davidai said the comments targeting him occurred during a public webinar titled “Islamic Political Activism” on Aug. 20 with Imam Tom Facchine. He posted a screenshot of a poster advertising the event on the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine’s Instagram page.
According to the professor’s post, Facchine (pictured) mentioned Davidai by name during the event and told students to “create a situation” to get him “in trouble.” Davidai is Israeli and calls himself a Zionist on his X profile.
“How do we create a situation in which [his professorship is] in jeopardy?” Facchine said in the video.
Students for ‘Justice’ in Palestine at @Columbia invited an imam who instructed them to target me and “create a situation” that gets me in trouble pic.twitter.com/NF6vhxZINh
— Shai Davidai (@ShaiDavidai) August 24, 2024
“This is what the Zionists do,” the Muslim leader said, according to the video. “That might silence 100 other professors if you’re able to take out somebody like that and make them an example, that might shut up 100 more.”
As the new school year begins, Facchine told students to “think creatively about where we prioritize things, what’s the biggest threat here, what’s our biggest opportunity, which domino if we knock it over will knock 20 dominos over,” according to the video.
Facchine did not immediately respond to several messages Monday and Tuesday from The College Fix through his mosque and the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research where he is a research director. The Fix could not find phone numbers for either.
The Fix also could not find contact information for Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine.
On X on Monday, the student group wrote that Instagram “permanently banned” it from the platform.
“No reason given,” the group wrote on X, and posted a screenshot of the notification. “Just that we cannot request another review.”
The media relations office at Meta, which owns Instagram, did not immediately respond to two emails from The Fix asking if the group has been permanently banned and why.
Meanwhile, Davidai said he is planning to take legal action against the university.
“I have just notified my lawyer, filed a Title VI complaint, and emailed the President of @Columbia …” he wrote on X. “I’ve had enough.”
Over the past year, Davidai repeatedly has said Columbia University leaders are failing to protect Jewish students and faculty.
In April, he said he was barred from accessing parts of campus by pro-Palestinian activists.
In the spring, pro-Palestinian protesters took over Hamilton Hall on campus. They began referring to the building as “Hind’s Hall” “in honour of six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed alongside her family by Israeli forces in Gaza,” Al Jazeera reported in May.
Custodians were put in a dangerous situation and two janitors “had to fight their way out,” the union that represents those workers previously said.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, three top Columbia administrators resigned after they were caught mocking Jewish leaders and students in a series of texts, The Fix reported.
MORE: Institutional neutrality key to stymying aggressive anti-Israel campus protests: report
IMAGE: Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine/X, Shai Davidai/X
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.