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Nearly two months have passed since a controversial Columbia University internal report lifted the blame from professors accused of anti-Zionist speech and harassing pro-Israel students in the classroom. But now, thanks to students such as Bari Weiss, the intensely heated, intellectual battle at Columbia University is resuming.
Weiss, 21, heads Columbians for Academic Freedom (CAF), a student group which she formed with three other Jewish students. Their mission is to combat the supporters of professors within the university's Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures (MEALC) who face allegations of strongly antagonizing and intimidating students who voiced opposing views to the professors' anti- Israel speech in the classroom. The group, says Weiss, aims to promote "an environment of intellectual diversity and freedom to dissent."
Weiss feels that she was forced into the position of a "whistle blower" after the film<i>Columbia Unbecoming</i>, professionally produced by Boston-based Israel advocacy group The David Project, aired charges by students against professors and sparked the dramatic rise of tensions at Columbia throughout this past semester.
In a discussion period following a student screening of the film in December, Weiss said that "people's reactions solidified in me my desire to get involved with this cause." She found many of the reactions "entirely offensive," claiming that many spoke brutally and unsympathetically against the legitimacy of the Jewish students' charges.
Were this another minority besides the Jews, thought Weiss at the time, we would support them.
"I would think that we would just unite as students, and what scares me is that for many the automatic reaction was instead to question and ultimately throw out [the Jewish students'] claims, because of the students' political affiliations."
Weiss, who previously founded the Columbia Coalition for Sudan, believes that...