Columbia School of Social Work student group to host pro-Oct 7 'teach-in'

A student group at Columbia University's School of Social Work in New York will host an on-campus 'teach-in' about what it calls the 'October 7 counteroffensive,' students from 'Columbia Social Workers 4 Palestine' announced online.

In an apparent response to criticism, the group added in a second post that "in advocating for Palestinian liberation, Palestinians have engaged in nonviolent resistance tactics for years. These peaceful actions have been met with tear gas and armed opposition by the Israeli government." The group attached an article from the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker group, about 'Palestinian nonviolent resistance to occupation since 1967.' AFSC's response to October 7, called 'To end violence in Palestine and Israel we must address root causes,' came two days after the attack and condemned Israeli 'apartheid,' but did not mention Hamas or cast any judgment on their attack against Israel.

The group's notes seem to condemn peace negotiations

The 'teach-in' on Wednesday will be the group's second since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 Israelis, raping women civilians, and abducting more than 240 people into captivity in Gaza, triggering the largest ground war in Gaza since Israel removed its troops from the territory in 2005. The first 'teach-in' event took place last Wednesday, November 29, and seems to have received a very modest attendance.

An outline for the first event, posted online, consisted of four sections: the first section, on 'imperialism,' states that 'Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism,' and contains a long quotation from Vladimir Lenin; the second section, on the 'History of Zionism,' emphasizes the 'Nakam' organization in post-war Europe, a fringe group of about fifty Holocaust survivors that sought to kill six million Germans as revenge for the Holocaust, and seems to suggest that a notion of "necessary revenge" was the "founding ideology of Israel." Zionism as a movement took shape in the late nineteenth century, several generations before the rise of Hitler in Germany.

This 'History of Zionism' section continues, with the claim that labor Zionism was 'suppressed by Zionist capitalists,' who sought to 'divide the working class.' All of Israel's first five prime ministers, from David Ben-Gurion in 1948 until the end of Yitzhak Rabin's first term in 1977, came from the Israeli Labor movement.

The third section of the outline, called 'Resistance,' refers to 'the Emergence and Eventual Capitulation of the PLO,' and the fourth section, on 'Peace Negotiations,' seems to disparage any historical effort to arrive at a nonviolent solution to the conflict, stating that "'peace negotiations' on the question of Palestine have always served US imperialists' monopolization of the Middle East." The document lists the Camp David Accords of 1978 and the Oslo Accords of 1993 as examples of the 'Capitulation of Arab reactionaries to US imperialism.' 

CSSW for Palestine’s first teach in happening now! Join us every Wednesday for teach ins, conversations, and creative spaces to support education and awareness on Palestinian liberation! pic.twitter.com/3iYCBUxPe2

— Columbia Social Workers 4 Palestine (@CSSW4Palestine) November 29, 2023

Student group was recently formed, issued list of 'demands' 

The student group in question, Columbia Social Workers for Palestine, was only recently formed, in the aftermath of the October 7 attack and outbreak of war in Gaza. The group says they "are not in favor of antagonizing our peers who have different views than us," but rather that they are "antagonistic towards the oppressors and those who systematically carry out their oppression." 

On Wednesday, November 8, Columbia Social Workers for Palestine held a sit-in at the social work school, and issued a list of 'demands' on Instagram. The statement begins with a declaration of "full solidarity with Palestinians resisting the ongoing occupation of their land by the settler-colonial entity Israel." It goes on to argue that unqualified support of Palestinian actions against Israel "aligns with the [National Association of Social Workers] code of ethics." 

The statement criticizes the social work school's discussion of the ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza, arguing that "the events of the past two weeks exposed many shortcomings in our PROP (power, race, oppression, privilege-informed framework) curriculum," which the group says "only sanitizes colonialism and condemns it as a historical phenomenon," asking, "Were Native Americans to take up arms today against colonialism, would CSSW support their anti-colonial struggle?" 

The statement rejects "the premise that everyone can oppress and be oppressed at the same time." The group asks who "this perspective concretely serve[s] when the distinction between the oppressed and the oppressor is blurred and combined so that everyone is both," arguing that "this perspective serves to blame the victims of genocide and humanize the oppressor.

"Nuance is important," the students say, "but it is not a substitute for liberation." 

Marginal event draws attention online

By all indications, the group is not very influential, drawing only about 100 followers on X even amid the firestorm of criticism. But figures such as David Friedman, the former United States Ambassador to Israel, shared the event, saying that "Columbia School of Social Work is holding a 'teach in' this week on the 'Palestinian Counteroffesive' of October 7th. Have they lost their minds?"

The school itself is not holding the event, although some have suggested that the school should prevent it from taking place on campus grounds.

Shai Davidai, an Israeli professor who teaches at Columbia, shared the event, with the comment "Victims of rape should never have to worry that their social worker might view some victims as acceptable targets." Tagging the university and the social work school, Davidai wrote that "THIS IS SCHOOL-FUNDED HATRED" and that "IF YOU ALLOW THIS EVENT TO TAKE PLACE, YOU ARE COMPLACENT IN THE HATRED."

Campus discourse on the war in Gaza has been a minefield for campus administrators since October 7, and Columbia in particular has seen perpetual controversy on the subject. Administrators have shut down the campus to non-students several times, in an unprecedented security measure. A group of Jewish students also held a press conference denouncing the university as having failed to protect them. 

The moment has also seen a surge in both antisemitic and anti-Palestinian incidents in the United States, including a recent shooting of several young men, including one Brown University student, wearing pro-Palestinian garb. Local Jewish leaders have condemned the attack, which is being investigated as a hate crime.