Back in January, Columbia University student Khymani James ranted in an Instagram Live video that “Zionists don’t deserve to live,” and “Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering zionists.”
James also said he welcomed getting kicked out of Columbia because he wants to travel to South America and “live my best life.”
Following publicity of the clip, James doubled down again, repeatedly declining to apologize for the video in an interview with CNN, saying that the focus should be on Palestinian liberation. But he released a statement on Twitter/X, in which he said “I misspoke in the heat of the moment, for which I apologize.” So much for living his “best life” in South America!
Yet James seems to have deleted his apology since then.
Either way, he was banned from campus and suspended.
Now he is suing the university.
A Columbia University student who was suspended in the spring after a video surfaced of him saying “Zionists don’t deserve to live” has filed a lawsuit against the university.
In the lawsuit filed on September 27 in New York, Khymani James charges that he was denied due process and fair treatment in violation of university policy and that the decision to suspend him was driven by media pressure.
He claims in the lawsuit that he was targeted by Columbia because he is a Black, pro-Palestinian student and that the decision to suspend him “inflamed the hatred” against him. He also alleges that the university “privileges a class of self-described ‘Zionist Jewish’ people over everyone on campus.”
Representing James in the lawsuit is Jonathan Wallace, an attorney who defended Mohamed Abdou, the professor fired by Columbia for voicing support for the October 7 Hamas attack.
—
The letter notifying James of his suspension cites a widely publicized incident on campus, in which he organized a human chain to block Zionist students from accessing the lawn where the encampment was set up.
According to a recent report by the university’s antisemitism taskforce, the encampment targeted Jewish students.
James is seeking damages and a court declaration clarifying that his rights were violated.
His claim of being targeted because “he is a Black, pro-Palestinian student” – rather than because he made genocidal statements and made Jewish students feel very unsafe on campus – is simply ridiculous, but reminiscent of similar allegations by Israel-haters who claim Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are heavily criticized for their stances because of Islamophobia.
Complaining that the decision “inflamed the hatred” against him is just as ridiculous, especially given the amount his comments have inflamed hatred against Jewish students, especially those who support Israel. If he wants to see true hatred against him, I suggest he goes to Gaza, where I can assure him he won’t be living his “best life” as an openly gay man, and he will likely go from using “he/she/they” to “was.”
Besides, he doesn’t seem to be suffering too much:
This also seems to reaffirm my belief that his apology was just to save his ass, and he deleted it after it didn’t work. He hardly seems contrite, especially when he refers to his hurtful video as just “some ninth month old tea.”
He certainly is not helping his cause with his allegation that the university “privileges a class of self-described ‘Zionist Jewish’ people over everyone on campus.” It reeks of antisemitism, but then again, so does saying “Zionists don’t deserve to live.”
James seems to think this is just one big game:
Here’s hoping he loses.
