Shai Davidai suspended from Columbia U campus for harassment

Columbia University Assistant Professor Shai Davidai has been temporarily banned from the university’s campus for harassing students and staff.

Millie Wert, spokesperson for the university, said The Columbia Spectator that the university was not trying to restrict Davidai’s freedom of speech, but his threatening behavior.

“However, Columbia will not tolerate threats of harassment, intimidation or other threatening behavior from its employees,” Wert said.

Davidai announced his suspension in a post on Instagram on Tuesday, saying: “The university has decided not to allow me to be on campus anymore. My job. Why? Because of October 7th. Because I wasn’t afraid to stand up to the hateful crowd and because I wasn’t afraid to expose Mr. f*****g Cas Holloway.

In the video, Davidai claims that Columbia Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway has done nothing to stop the pro-Palestinian protests on campus because neither he nor his children are Jewish and because “he doesn’t care.”

‘Cas, this message is for you. I’m not going anywhere, what about you? You can fuck yourself until we meet at court.”

This is what a university spokesperson said The Columbia Spectatorthe university still has Davidai as a faculty member and has provided him with off-campus office space.

Wert said Davidai was required to undergo training on Columbia’s policies regarding employee conduct.

Numerous videos emerged showing Davidai aggressively confronting Holloway and Deputy Public Safety Director Bobby Lau during the Oct. 7 pro-Palestinian marches. In one video, Davidai compares Lau to administrators in “Nazi Germany”.

Davidai also reportedly used social media platforms such as

This led to petitions to have his removal and deactivation of access to the main campus with his pass in April due to security concerns.

On April 23, Davidai was denied entry to the Morningside Campus after planning to enter the Gaza solidarity camp.

Columbia University has been in the spotlight in the US for its frequent pro-Palestinian activism, with US police officers storming the campus and arresting hundreds of students for said protests.

In August, Columbia President Nemat Minouche Shafik resigned after severe backlash for allowing police to enter the campus and make the arrests.