Columbia University professor Shai Davidai has been in the spotlight since the beginning of the war for his support of Israel and his role fighting against antisemitism on the now-notorious campus.
The basics
Davidai was born in Ramat Gan, Israel. He moved to the United States in 2010 to get his P.h.D. in Social and Personality Psychology at Cornell University.
Davidai spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University and three years as an assistant professor of psychology at The New School for Social Research. He has been an assistant professor at Columbia Business School since 2019.
While Davidai was at Columbia to teach and do research, over the past year his academic position thrust him into the spotlight as he became an advocate for Israel and prominent voice in the fight against antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of Oct. 7.
Davidai’s fight against antisemitism at Columbia
Shortly after Oct. 7, Davidai went viral for his “Open Letter to Every Parent in America,” warning that Columbia and other universities could not or would not protect Jewish students from antisemitism.
“I am a professor at Columbia Business School, I am Israeli, but before all of that, I am a dad. I have two beautiful children and I’m speaking to you as a dad and I want you to know we cannot protect your children from pro-terror student organizations because the president of Columbia University will not speak out against pro-terror student organizations,” Davidai said in the video.
“To the pro-terror student organizations at Columbia, my seven-year-old son is a legitimate ‘target of resistance’ just because he’s Israeli…To the pro-terror student organizations on campus here and at Harvard and at NYU and at Stanford and at Berkeley and at Northwestern, my two-year-old daughter is a legitimate ‘target of resistance.’ None of the presidents of universities all around the country are willing to take a stand. This is what cowards do.”
In the video, Davidai urged parents to call the universities where their kids were learning and ask them, “Will you protect my child from pro-terror student organizations?”
In April, Davidai was blocked from entering Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus after he planned to stage a sit-in on its lawn where pro-Palestinian protesters had set up an encampment. The university reportedly told the professor that allowing him near the encampment would be a safety risk.
In late October, he was temporarily banned from the campus due to accusations that he “repeatedly harassed and intimidated University employees in violation of University policy.”
The ban came after Davidai filmed himself confronting university employees after an anti-Israel protest, which included slogans supporting Hamas, was held on campus on the anniversary of Oct. 7.
In the video, he confronted Columbia Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway, asking, “How did you allow this to happen on October 7? You have to do your job. And I will not let you rest if they won’t let us rest.”
After the temporary ban was issued, Davidai stressed that “My goal is to change the university; if it’s through the court of public opinion, or if it’s through the court of law, I’ll do whatever it takes, but I am not trying to be a provocateur. I am trying to change the system.”
The assistant professor insisted that he has “never crossed a line into breaking the peace,” but added that “being peaceful and being non-violent does not mean being submissive. That is a big difference.”
