Karl Jacoby

Karl Jacoby participated in the pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia in April 2024. The encampment was also in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

On April 22, 2024, Columbia professor Karl Jacoby was featured in a photo posted on X participating in a walk-out alongside other faculty members.

On that day, Jacoby, along with other Columbia faculty members, participated in the “‘Faculty Walkout’ rally…to support Palestine and Liberated Zone Encampment.”

The event was held in support of the students arrested by the New York Police Department (NYPD) and suspended by the university. Jacoby can be seen in the photo holding a sign that said: “END STUDENT SUSPENSIONS NOW.”

Faculty members carrying signs that said [00:00:35]: “END STUDENT SUSPENSIONS NOW” and HANDS OFF OUR STUDENTS,” walked out of their classrooms and made their way to the steps of the library facing the encampment. A crowd gathered and chanted: “Disclose! Divest! We will not stop, we will not rest!” A few walkout participants addressed [00:00:14] the crowd in expressing faculty support for their students and the encampment.

Jacoby was also featured in several photos, according to a tip submitted to Canary Mission in April 2024. Jacoby can be seen in the photos wearing an orange faculty vest.

Numerous Columbia faculty and staff members participated in the encampment wearing bright orange vests with yellow and gray stripes. Taped to each vest was a label that said either “FACULTY” or “STAFF.” They had organized to support the student protestors in various ways. Some made up a “human barricade” to prevent Jewish students from entering [00:03:16] the campus, and some held signs saying: “HANDS OFF OUR STUDENTS" and [00:00:31] “No cops on campus.” Other faculty and staff “lined up in front of the encampment in a show of solidarity with the student body."

There was also a group of Columbia faculty and staff members who wore [00:01:00, 00:02:12] yellow vests with gray stripes during the encampment. On one occasion, they prevented [00:03:06] those they deemed “provocateurs” [00:01:09, 00:01:26] from entering Columbia as well.

On April 30, 2024, Jacoby posted on X a photo from the encampment and wrote: “Best shot of Hamilton Hall that I could get through Columbia’s locked gates this morning. There is a large banner that seems to say something about Gaza hanging in front and students have formed some barricades with chairs, presumably to keep out the police.”

On April 30, 2024, participants in Columbia’s second pro-Hamas encampment forced their way into the university’s Hamilton Hall, barricading themselves in the building and taking three Columbia custodians hostage. Protesters also vandalized [00:00:55] and destroyed university property inside the hall. A police raid on Hamilton found knives, gas masks, ropes and literature that read: “...DESTROY zionist business interests everywhere!...DEATH TO AMERICA!...”