Saturday 08/March/2025 – 03:01 AM
The administration of US President Donald Trump said it has canceled grants and contracts with a total value of $ 400 million to Colombia University due to what it described as anti -Semitic harassment on the university campus in New York City and near it, against the backdrop of the demonstrations supporting Gaza.
The university receives millions of dollars from the government for health care and science research, but the Trump administration did not mention the grants and contracts that will be affected, and the statement stated that the discounts will come from more than $ 5 billion from grants currently allocated to Colombia, according to Reuters.
The University of Colombia was at the heart of a student protest movement in support of the Palestinians and hostile to Israel during the past year in conjunction with the Israeli war on Gaza.
The demonstrators at the University of Colombia, some of whom seized an academic building for a few hours last April and installed Khayyam camps on the Gardens of the campus, called on the university to stop investing in companies that support the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Obligations with anti -Semitism
Obligations have been received by anti -Semitism, the hatred of Islam and racism in the protests and counter -protests supporting Israel, and includes the Columbia University group to resist the apartheid, which is an alliance of student groups behind the protests supporting the Palestinians, students and Jewish groups among its organizers, who rejected allegations of hostility to Semitism, and some Jewish and Israeli students said that the protests were frightening.
The American Minister of Education claimed that, since October 7, Jewish students faced violence, intimidation, and anti -Semitic harassment in universities, and the abolition of funding to Colombia University represents a first round of procedures and we may cancel more funding, and the decision was motivated by the continuous failure of Colombia to face harassment against Jewish students.
Meanwhile, US House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Trump sends a message to universities that the violence and intimidation of Jewish students or pay the price, and the University of Colombia failed to protect its students from sympathizers with extremists.
The US Secretary of Justice said: We will not tolerate any university that fails to hold accountability for discrimination against students, and universities must comply with the laws of combating discrimination and protecting students or expecting consequences.
