(ConservativeSense.com) – A radical pro-Palestinian leftwing activist and one of the leaders behind the protest encampment at Columbia University said during an official inquiry by the university that he believes Zionist Jews “don’t deserve to live.”
Khymani James is one of the most outspoken leaders of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which started on Wednesday, April 17. The encampment has led to the arrest of several protesters in attempts to break up the demonstration, including Isri Hirsi, daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has since been expelled from Columbia for her participation.
The controversy began after James made comments on social media defending his belief that all Zionists should die, stating that he felt “very comfortable” calling for their deaths. He’s also posted online about carrying a firearm, which led to concerns from the university after they received reports. James live-streamed a meeting with the university’s Center for Student Success and Intervention and doubled down on his position. According to the report, James told Zionists who wished to fight him that he “fights to kill.”
When asked whether or not he saw his words as “problematic,” James replied, “No.” When pressed on the seriousness of killing another person, the activist said although he has “personally… never killed anyone,” he felt “certain case scenarios” called for killing others and that it would be “better for the overall world.” He then made a comparison between killing Zionists and the Allies of World War II having to kill Hitler or Haitian revolutionaries killing their masters to gain independence.
James, who is a junior at Columbia and a spokesperson for the group Apartheid Divest on campus, has become one of the most visible leaders in the anti-Israel movement. On Wednesday, April 24, he was one of the student leaders who organized a press conference in which they claimed Columbia conceded and would not call on law enforcement to disassemble the protest encampment.
James maintains that Zionism, which is the belief that Jewish people should have their own state in the land surrounding Jerusalem, is a “white supremacist” belief system. He also maintained that he was not threatening to go and kill Zionists, only that he would do so in self-defense. After the meeting ended, he continued to rant on his livestream and compared Zionists to Nazis, reiterating that they “don’t deserve to live.”
A spokesperson for Columbia University indicated “disciplinary measures” may be in order for the student’s conduct. However, it appears James remains a student at the school and has not been expelled.
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