State: New York
City: New York City
Campus: Columbia University (Columbia)
Neferti X. M. Tadiar is a Barnard College professor and Columbia-affiliated academic who publicly participated in the April 2024 pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia University and later signed a faculty letter justifying Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks.
Neferti X. M. Tadiar participated in the pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia University in April 2024 and has a documented record of justifying Hamas terrorism following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
On April 20, 2024, Tadiar appeared in a since-deleted Instagram photo from the Columbia encampment, where she was seen holding a handwritten sign reading “HANDS OFF OUR STUDENTS.” The encampment explicitly supported the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and opposed Israel’s war against Hamas.
On April 17, 2024, Columbia students and outside anti-Israel activists established a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the university’s main lawn. The action was planned for months and organized by the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition, with involvement from Columbia’s banned Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). Activists reportedly received training from National SJP and other anti-Israel organizations.
The encampment escalated into repeated criminal activity. Protesters occupied campus grounds illegally, disrupted university operations, and engaged in multiple violent incidents. These included the takeover of a campus building, property destruction, and the detention of university employees.
Among the encampment’s leaders was Columbia student Khymani James, who publicly stated that Zionists “are nazis,” called them supporters of genocide, and said people should be “grateful” he was not murdering them. Another organizer, Aidan Parisi, responded to Columbia’s demand to dismantle the encampment by declaring online that “COLUMBIA WILL BURN.”
Under direction from Columbia’s administration, the NYPD cleared the encampment and arrested more than 100 individuals, approximately 80 of whom were Columbia students. Those arrested were charged with trespassing and suspended indefinitely.
After the initial encampment was dismantled, activists regrouped and illegally forced their way into Hamilton Hall on April 30, 2024. Protesters smashed through glass doors, destroyed security cameras, vandalized property, and unfurled a banner reading “INTIFADA,” a term commonly associated with violent uprisings.
During the occupation, protesters barricaded themselves inside the building and prevented three Columbia custodial staff members from leaving, effectively holding them hostage. When the NYPD raided the building, more than 100 individuals were arrested, nearly half of whom were reportedly unaffiliated with Columbia.
Police later released images of items recovered from Hamilton Hall, including knives, hammers, ropes, gas masks, and extremist propaganda. One pamphlet called to “DISRUPT / RECLAIM / DESTROY zionist business interests everywhere,” and included slogans such as “DEATH TO ISRAELI REAL ESTATE,” “DEATH TO AMERICA,” and “LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA.”
Outside the encampment, Jewish students were subjected to verbal abuse and intimidation. Protesters shouted slurs, told Jewish students to “go back to Europe,” and used explicit antisemitic language as students walked to and from dormitories.
Activists also chanted slogans celebrating Hamas violence, including a chant calling on Hamas to strike Tel Aviv. In another incident, a protester held a sign referencing Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, labeling a nearby pro-Israel crowd as its “next targets.”
On May 31, 2024, Columbia SJP announced the establishment of a third encampment. Protesters displayed propaganda portraying Hamas as a peace-seeking organization and used symbols commonly associated with Hamas support.
The Columbia encampment served as the model for a wave of similar protests across North American campuses, where Jewish students were harassed, restricted from facilities, and excluded from campus spaces.
On October 30, 2023, Neferti Tadiar signed an “Open Letter from Columbia University and Barnard College Faculty” that justified the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and defended a student statement supporting those attacks.
The letter described Hamas’s actions as a “military response” by “an occupied people exercising a right to resist,” framing the mass murder, kidnapping, rape, and torture of civilians as part of a legitimate struggle. Among anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” is routinely used as a euphemism for terrorism and to normalize violence against Israelis and Jews.
The letter further defended Columbia students who had endorsed a joint statement contextualizing the October 7 attacks as justified within Israel’s existence.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 people, including American and Canadian citizens, kidnapped 252 individuals, and committed documented war crimes. As of late May 2024, dozens of hostages remained in Hamas captivity.
As of October 2024, Neferti Tadiar served on the advisory board of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI).
She was also listed as a professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Barnard College, an affiliate institution of Columbia University.
Tadiar received a PhD in literature from Duke University in 1996 and was listed as residing in New York City as of October 2024.
