Student protests are an American pastime: Letters to the Editor April 26, 2024

The Issue: Responses to divisive Pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.Columbia professor here, someone who has taught at the university for nearly 25 years (“Columbia Surrenders,” April 24).The Post is having a field day with the tumult on our campus.But get the facts straight: Classes have not been moved entirely online.I will be teaching live, in a classroom overlooking the main quad encampment.

We are providing a hybrid option for any student who feels unsafe attending in person.I have made that accommodation for one of my students.I am horrified by the antisemitism that has reared its head around Columbia — my father fled Germany with his first wife, who was Jewish.

But to advocate for the Palestinian people in the wake of the horrific destruction of Gaza is not antisemitic, nor does it deny the awful events of Oct.7.To protect students’ right to protest — as American as apple pie — does not equal wishing harm to others.Katherine DieckmannManhattanMany years ago when I was in academia, a very popular joke was: “What’s the difference between a tenured professor and a terrorist?”The answer: “You can negotiate with a terrorist.”Well, Columbia administrators have surrendered to the protesting professors.

So the joke looks to be true.Frank BradyYonkersThe very notion that the Palestinian people are owed humanity is being branded as an antisemitic rallying cry.Yet we see so many Jewish students in these encampments congregating in communities they’ve made for themselves, celebrating Passover and loving their faith all while understanding the simple moral and theological truth that Palestinians have a right to their land.There is a difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism.We should support all students in their acts of protest against crimes against humanity that the United States continues to fund.

They are well within their rights to protest, and arresting people for simply exercising their First Amendment rights is abho...