Barnard College, in its strongest response yet to anti-Israel campus protests, has expelled two undergraduate students who interrupted a “History of Modern Israel” class and handed out menacing pro-terror fliers last month, a source with knowledge on the matter told Jewish Insider. 

The move is likely to place further pressure on Barnard’s affiliate, Columbia University, to strengthen its approach to disciplining participants in unruly anti-Israel protests which have roiled the school since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. 

The incident in question took place during a larger anti-Israel demonstration staged by Columbia University Apartheid Divest on the first day of the spring semester. During the protest, two Barnard students, one Columbia student, and a fourth unidentified individual, barged into a Columbia undergraduate course on Israeli history and refused to leave. 

Videos of the protest, which quickly went viral online, show one keffiyeh-clad student proclaiming: “We’re giving you an inside scoop on Columbia University’s normalization of genocide.” The class’s professor, Avi Shilon, can be heard asking the protesters to “please get out.” Mr. Shilon tried speaking to the protesters in Arabic, but “Of course they didn’t understand Arabic,” he told the Sun. 

The student activists handed out fliers with pro-violence slogans like “The enemy will not see tomorrow” and “Burn Zionism to the ground.” One flier included the image of a boot stomping on a Star of David along with the line “Crush Zionism.” 

Two days later, Columbia University suspended one student involved in the classroom protest “pending a full investigation and disciplinary process” and barred the two Barnard students from campus. Barnard is an affiliate of Columbia University and undergraduate students at Barnard are able to enroll in Columbia courses. 

The expulsions at Barnard were first made public by Columbia’s anti-Israel student group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest and later confirmed by a source “familiar with the matter” who spoke with Jewish Insider. 

Barnard’s President, Laura Rosenbury, in a statement to the Sun, did not confirm the expulsions, writing that “Under federal law, we cannot comment on the academic and disciplinary records of students.” 

“That said,” Ms. Rosenbury said, “as a matter of principle and policy, Barnard will always take decisive action to protect our community as a place where learning thrives, individuals feel safe, and higher education is celebrated.” 

She continued: “This means upholding the highest standards and acting when those standards are threatened. When rules are broken, when there is no remorse, no reflection, and no willingness to change, we must act. Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but so too is our commitment to respect, inclusion, and the integrity of the academic experience.” 

Ms. Rosenbury closed her statement by noting that Barnard will “always fiercely defend our values,” “reject harassment and discrimination in all forms,” and “always do what is right, not what is easy.” As of Monday morning, Barnard had not publicly announced any expulsions.  

According to Barnard’s student code of conduct, students are able to appeal “a decision reached and/or sanction imposed by the Conduct Administrator” within five business days of the decision. 

The news of the expulsions was lauded by the director of Columbia and Barnard Hillel, Brian Cohen, who commended Ms. Rosenbury for her “strong action and words.” Mr. Cohen added, “These former students disrupted a class, handed out antisemitic flyers, and harassed students who only wanted to learn. These individuals don’t belong on campus — and now they won’t be.” 

An undergraduate student at Columbia enrolled in the Israeli history class, Elisha Baker, also welcomed the expulsions. “I am a strong believer in accountability,” Mr. Baker tells the Sun. “In this case, the disruption made Jewish and Israeli students feel particularly unsafe, even inside the classroom, which is unacceptable on a college campus. The protestors disrupted the very function of the University.” He added that he is “curious” to see how Columbia reacts to “Barnard’s strong actions.” 

An Israeli-American professor at Columbia, Shai Davidai, who has been an outspoken critic of anti-Israel protests, similarly praised Ms. Rosenbury’s decision and noted that “it’s never too late to do the right thing.” He tacked on a message directed at Columbia: “your turn.” 

The expulsions didn’t appear to phase Columbia Apartheid Divest, which took the opportunity to call on its student activists to stage further classroom disruptions. 

“Zionist classes should not exist without disruption. It is our duty to disrupt,” the group shared on Instagram on Sunday. The group wrote that “teaching a history of ‘Israel’ justifies a settler-colonizing mission” and erases “Palestinian life from the past and present moment.” The anti-Israel student organization added: “When these classes continue undisturbed, their narratives persist and become bombs tearing apart Palestinian lives.” 

Columbia University issued a statement on Monday condemning the group’s “unacceptable call to disrupt our academic mission.” The school noted that “Disruptions to our classrooms and efforts to intimidate or harass our students are not acceptable, are an affront to our University community, and will not be tolerated.” 

With Barnard’s decisive action, eyes are likely to turn to Columbia, which has been criticized for its mishandling of campus antisemitism. A bombshell report on campus antisemitism from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce showed that Columbia failed to follow through on its promise to expel the anti-Israel students who participated in the violent takeover of Hamilton Hall last spring. 

Of the 22 students arrested inside of Hamilton Hall in April 2023, “18 are in good standing, with only three on interim suspensions, and one on probation,” the report charged. The committee described Columbia’s “refusal to enforce rules against antisemites” as “disgraceful.” 

“Barnard finally took decisive action against harassment on campus,” a coalition of Jewish and Israeli students at Columbia tells the Sun. “We hope that the Barnard and Columbia administration will apply the same standard to other pending disciplinary cases, such as last spring’s encampment and occupation of Hamilton Hall.” 

Columbia has not yet responded to the Sun’s request for comment. 

Correction: Modern Israel was the subject of the class disrupted by protesters. An earlier version misstated the subject of the class.