Columbia University students staged a walkout Wednesday during a lecture by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to news reports.
The subject of the lecture was womenâs involvement in the peace process, co-presented by Keren Yarhi-Milo, dean of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia, The New York Times reported.
About 30 of the 300 students gathered their belongings, stood up and left during the two-hour presentation.
The students joined a larger group in the lobby of the International Affairs Building to protest âwhat they perceived as the schoolâs role in publicly shaming students whose photographs appeared last week on the Video screen panels on a truck seen near campus,â the Times reported.
A vehicle labeled a âdoxxing truckâ drove near the Ivy League schoolâs Manhattan campus on Oct. 25, displaying photos of students labeled âColumbiaâs Leading Antisemites,â according to the New York Post.
The âanti-Semiteâ label was an apparent reference to pro-Palestinian students who were quoted as blaming Israel for a deadly attack that killed more than 1,400 Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.
Similar trucks also appeared at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, apparently sponsored by the ânonprofit news watchdogâ Accuracy in Media, according to the report.
The students pictured on the trucks âwere members of groups that had signed a statement about the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that said, in part, âThe weight of responsibility for the war and casualties undeniably lies with the Israeli extremist government,ââ the Times reported.
The Times quoted students as saying the photographs used in the mobile display âwere taken from a âprivate and secureâ online platform for students at the School of International and Public Affairs.â
Wednesdayâs protesters demanded âimmediate legal support for affected studentsâ and âa commitment to student safety, well being and privacy,â the Times reported.
In response to the clashing of the pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups, Columbia formed an anti-Semitism task force âto address the âterribly resilientâ hatred that has swept across its campus,â the New York Post reported Thursday.
The school also said it had formed a âdoxxing resource group to protect pro-Palestinian students,â according to the report.
The former U.S. first lady and two-time presidential candidate last week spoke in favor of Israelâs right to defend itself against Hamas and refused to call for a cease-fire, according to The Jerusalem Post.
âPeople who are calling for a cease-fire now, donât understand Hamas âŚâ Clinton explained, according to the report.
âIt would be such a gift to Hamas because they would spend whatever time there was a cease-fire in effect rebuilding their armaments ⌠to be able to fend off an eventual assault by the Israelis.â
Another recent appearance by Clinton was disrupted Friday when a heckler demanded she respond to allegations her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had ties to notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the New York Post reported.
That heckler was dragged out of the event in Houston, Texas.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
