Attorney General Marshall Sends Letter to Columbia University Raising Grave Concerns About Campus Antisemitism and Divestment from Israel

For Immediate Release:
October 28, 2024

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Amanda Priest (334) 322-5694
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(Montgomery, Ala) - Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall joined a 25-state coalition of attorneys general in sending a letter to Columbia University to raise grave concerns about antisemitism on campus. The letter also encourages the university not to give in to demands to divest from Israel.

"Some of the groups causing unrest on campus have been tied to international terrorists who have used their propaganda and funds to incite antisemitism, encourage violence, and demand divestment from Israel. We are calling on Columbia's administration to hold the line against these radical demands including to divest from Israel," said Attorney General Marshall.

The letter, to Columbia University Interim President Katrina Armstrong, MD, says, "In April of this year, several pro-Palestinian groups staged occupation protests on Columbia University's campus in New York City, established encampments, and demanded the university divest from Israel. Even after some protesters were arrested, occupations continued, and the school entered negotiations with protesters. The school appropriately declined to divest from Israel. But demands for divestment have not abated. And the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks heralded an escalation in antisemitic rhetoric by pro-Palestinian campus protest groups."

The letter goes on to list examples of actions and rhetoric by pro-Palestinian protesters calling for even more violence, including one member of Columbia University Apartheid Divest saying the school was lucky he wasn't "going out and murdering Zionists."

The letter from the attorneys general commends Columbia University for its decision not to divest from Israel and urges the administration to maintain that position, despite blatantly antisemitic pressure from some pro-Palestinian student groups.

The letter was co-led by South Carolina and Arkansas. In addition to Alabama, the letter was joined by the attorneys general of Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

You can read the letter here.

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