Columbia president should have taken these steps 'the moment' protests started.

A Barnard College alumna is watching the anti-Israel protests and general unrest at Columbia University with a heavy heart.

Numerous students were detained and expelled from Yale and Columbia universities following the establishment of anti-Israel demonstrations on their campuses in the past week. The anti-Israel protests at Columbia led school administrators to permit students to participate in virtual classes commencing on Monday, the first day of Passover.

Recently, Rabbi Elie Buechler, associated with Columbia University's Orthodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, advised Jewish students to avoid campus as the environment becomes increasingly hostile.

"Columbia's Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students' safety due to extreme antisemitism and anarchy, as Buechler wrote. Therefore, I strongly recommend returning home immediately and staying until the situation improves."

Daniella Greenbaum Davis, a Jewish-American writer, Emmy-winning producer, and Barnard College alumna, recalls a similarly charged atmosphere during her time at Barnard, where she heard shouts of "intifada" or calls to bring intifada to campus. However, she stated that today's demonstrations have reached a new level of extreme.

Davis told Planet Chronicle Digital that he believes it's not the right time to send his kids to Columbia.

X is where Davis, a third-generation Holocaust survivor, recently shared her family's harrowing history.

""My ancestors were murdered in Auschwitz, my great-grandmother lived under the Nuremberg laws, my grandmother survived Bergen Belsen, and Jews will endure this too, but the trauma will remain with us forever," she wrote on Oct. 13, just six days after Hamas' terror attack against Israel."

Columbia's Passover celebrations will feature heightened security measures, including police presence at the Kraft Center and walking escorts for students, according to reports.

"If you require a physical escort to attend a religious meal on campus, that campus would not be one I would recommend sending my Jewish children to," Davis stated. "I can't imagine any Jewish parent in America choosing to send their children to such an environment."

Davis, who was a student at the time, stated that the administration's response to campus unrest was a "collective shrug." Although she acknowledged that the current faculty was accommodating students' request for remote-only learning, she strongly criticized their other actions.

"She stated that any action that shows submission to the crowd is not a wise strategic move. However, she acknowledged that the request for Zoom classes came from Jewish students who genuinely felt unsafe and uncomfortable on campus. She believed that providing this option was a good decision. However, she pointed out that the university was compromising and catering to the crowd."

Some Columbia professors left their classes in support of the protesters and to condemn the school president's decision to have police detain students during a pro-Palestinian demonstration.

"Davis believes a zero tolerance policy should be implemented, but that's not what's happening."

"President Dr. Nemat "Minouche" Shafik wrote in a statement Monday that she is deeply saddened by the events happening on campus. "Our community bonds have been severely tested, and it will take time and effort to reaffirm them. Students from various communities have expressed concerns about their safety, and we have announced additional actions to address security issues. The volume of our disagreements has increased in recent days. These tensions have been amplified by individuals not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas. We need a reset.""

Davis characterized the president's leadership as "poor." She believed Shafik should have initiated symbolic actions at the start of the demonstrations.

"From the moment the protest began in earnest, she should have displayed an Israeli and American flag outside the main building on campus, as these students are not only protesting against Israel but also against America," Davis stated. "It should have been a clear message that their actions are unacceptable and do not align with the university's interests."

She suggested that other immediate actions would have been to expel the students harassing Jewish students and uphold their commitment to defending students' rights to protest, while also controlling demonstrations that have turned violent.

"Columbia's top priority is the safety of its community, as President Shafik has repeatedly stated. Columbia students have the right to protest, but they are not allowed to disrupt campus life or harass and intimidate fellow students and members of the community. The university is taking action on concerns raised by its Jewish students and providing additional support and resources to ensure that its community remains safe."

Amid the campus chaos, the White House also released a statement.

Andrew Bates, White House spokesperson, stated on Sunday that peaceful protest is a right for every American, but calls for violence and physical intimidation against Jewish students and the Jewish community are unacceptable, unethical, and dangerous.

Davis stated that she has communicated with multiple Columbia students and some of them, in her opinion, were regretting their decision to pursue higher education.

They're all incredibly exhausted, demoralized, and sad, she said. Some of them are determined and angry, but no one's feeling good. There's a constant pull and push of whether to stay and fight for the school they were excited to get into and happy to be at or to recognize that it's fundamentally hostile to them, like maybe they don't want to be there at all.

I think that's weighing really heavily on them," Davis said.