Former Columbia professor declines to call on Hamas to free hostages, netizens react

Time of India

02-05-2025

In panel discussion, Journalist Piers Morgan (Extreme left) asking former Columbia professor Ahmed Eldin(Second from right)
Columbia University
seems to have become the new target for the
Trump administration
, which has accused it of
anti-Semitism on college campuses
. And now, the former professor
Ahmed Eldin
's statement has put Columbia University in danger.
Responding to a journalist , Piers Morgan's question, will he call on Hamas to release the hostages, Eldin said "no."
His response caught netizens' attention. One of the users said, "Exactly. That's why I call them terrorists lovers," while another said, "They released hostages during the ceasefire. Israel broke the ceasefire because they want to continue the conflict and finally take over the West Bank. They don't want peace, they want the land."
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Another user said, "The more these people speak, the clearer it becomes—they don't support Palestinians, they support terrorists."
Meanwhile, a senior Trump-appointed justice department official has initiated a controversial investigation into Columbia University student protesters, causing significant concern among career prosecutors who considered the probe politically driven and legally questionable, according to New York Times.
The investigation, targeting students protesting Israel's actions in Gaza, faced resistance from a federal magistrate judge who considered Emil Bove III's requested measures potentially unconstitutional and unwarranted, sources revealed.
This previously undisclosed broad-scale investigation by the civil rights division exemplifies the internal tensions within the department. The administration's efforts to shift the division's focus from protecting minority rights to addressing alleged antisemitism on university campuses and controlling
student protests
has created significant discord.
Recent weeks have witnessed numerous lawyers departing the division, largely due to such directives from political appointees, according to current and former officials.
While the Columbia investigation appears currently inactive, it represents a significant point of contention within the Justice Department during Trump's second term, creating lasting friction among the department, courts and FBI, sources indicated.
Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, responded, "This is a false story fabricated by a group of people who allowed antisemitism and support of Hamas terrorists to fester for several years, standing by but doing nothing."
The administration's commitment to addressing campus protests against Israel's Gaza operations has targeted both university administrators and student activists, with some facing immigration detention. Activists contend that authorities are incorrectly equating policy criticism with antisemitism.
The investigation commenced after February 26 events at Barnard College, where masked protesters entered Milbank Hall to oppose student expulsions. The incident, captured on video, resulted in minor injuries to a security guard.
Bove directed an immediate investigation, particularly focusing on Columbia University Apartheid Divest, according to three anonymous sources familiar with the private details.
Career prosecutors resisted Bove's instructions to obtain the group's membership list, questioning its existence and expressing concerns about First Amendment violations, these sources revealed.
Samantha Trepel, who previously secured Derek Chauvin's federal conviction in the George Floyd case, was among the Justice Department lawyers assigned to this investigation, according to these individuals.