The American Accountability Foundation (AAF) released a letter Thursday to “law firms and corporate America” on Columbia University students who signed an anti-Israel letter, giving a stark warning to employers, the Daily Caller has learned.
Following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, Columbia student group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), released a letter on Oct. 9 giving “full solidarity” to Palestine for what they called “Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid.” The AAF within their letter, obtained by the Daily Caller, addressed the SJP’s letter at the school, noting their warning to employers about the “reputational risk” of “hiring terrorism-sympathizers.”(RELATED: ‘Moral Cowardice … Beyond Repair’: Jewish Billionaire Quits Columbia Board Over ‘Pro-Hamas’ Protests)
“At Columbia University student groups put out a statement referring to the terrorists as ‘Palestinian fighters,’ claimed that ‘The weight of responsibility for the war and casualties undeniably lies with the Israeli extremist government and other Western governments, including the U.S. government,’ and quoted Leftist terrorism apologist Frantz Fanon,” the AAF’s letter stated.
AAF Letter by hailey
“We feel obligated to warn you about certain students who promoted this outrageous letter, as well as the serious reputational risk involved with hiring terrorism-sympathizers. The American people would surely not accept a firm complicit in supporting antisemitism and the chilling barbarism we all witnessed,” the letter continued.
More than 300 faculty members from the university and an affiliate school, Barnard College, signed an open letter on Oct. 31 calling out the school and student groups stating they were “appalled by the spate of antisemitic incidents.” (RELATED: Jewish High Schools Demand ‘Security’ Plan Protecting Students From ‘Intolerable’ Atmosphere On College Campuses)
The AAF, a non-profit government oversight and research organization, told the Daily Caller that “those people who are in charge of those organizations, are mainly responsible.”
“We are a non-profit, just kind of focusing on holding the left, holding corporate America, and holding, you know, the American government accountable,” AAF Communications Manager Yitz Friedman told the Caller.
“And we think that certainly when it comes to corporate America, as we see things such as, you know, the ESG movement and just largely corporate America getting more politically active … And if they’re going to be hiring antisemites and terrorist-sympathizers and people who would say just these outrageous things — I think that they need to be held accountable and they should know that the American people are watching.”
The AAF named four students, two of whom currently work at law firms in New York City. While the backlash against exposing students has increased safety concerns, Friedman stated that he believes “there is a line” to be drawn, emphasizing the “efforts” it took these students to call out Israel.
“Especially to go to the effort of writing this letter, you know, circulating it among the organization, signing on. This is not something that was kind of like a spur-of-the-moment — thoughtless — you know, college stupidity. This was very thought out … We think this crosses a line, this is not something that we can just excuse as, you know, teenage folly,” Friedman stated.
Columbia announced on Nov. 10 that they were suspending SJP as well as another student group, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), for the remainder of the fall term, claiming that the groups broke official university rules regarding holding on-campus events.