Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) was a coalition of student groups at Columbia University involved in protests calling for the university to divest from Israel during the war and genocide in Gaza. Forming as an ad-hoc coalition of over 80 student groups following the irregular suspension of the university's chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the coalition was announced at a rally at the Columbia University sundial on November 14, 2023. It gained international recognition with the establishment of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment (April 17–30, 2024), which led to the proliferation of Palestine solidarity encampments at over 180 universities around the world.
In October 2024, the New York Times described CUAD as having become "more hard-line in its rhetoric, openly supporting militant groups fighting Israel". On October 19, Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC) announced itself in the Columbia Daily Spectator as distinct from CUAD, which it described as having "shifted from a horizontally structured coalition founded on Palestinian liberation to a nebulous organization that is not led by the affinity group of Palestinian student organizers."
A previous iteration of CUAD was founded in 2016 by the university's chapters of JVP and SJP as a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)-affiliated protest group. It became inactive in 2020.
History Outbreak of the war and genocide in Gaza Following the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the Columbia chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) published an open letter on October 9, 2023, expressing "full solidarity with Palestinian resistance against over 75 years of Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid" and calling for a protest at 4:30 p.m. on October 12.
SJP and JVP started working with other student groups, including the Palestinian student union (known as Dar-Jafra or Dar), the Palestine Working Group (PWG) from the School of International and Public Affairs, and Columbia Law Students for Palestine (CLSP) from the Law School. These and two dozen other student groups signed a joint statement from Palestine Solidarity Groups at Columbia calling on the university to "end its ties with" what it described as "apartheid Israel".
Suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace On October 25, 2023, Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Alyza D. Lewin and Kenneth L. Marcus of the Brandeis Center wrote university presidents a letter calling on them to investigate SJP for "potential violations of the prohibition against materially supporting a foreign terrorist organization", without providing any evidence in support of this allegation. Additionally, the letter stated that "universities must also update their code of conduct to ensure that harassment and support for terrorism have no place on campus".
On November 10, 2023, Columbia senior administrator Gerald Rosberg announced the suspension of the university's chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), citing a violation of university rules after the November 9 protest, which he described as an "unauthorized event" that included "threatening rhetoric and intimidation". The suspension came after senior administrators quietly revised policies cited in the suspension on October 24, adding a new section to the University Event Policy webpage that declared the administration's right to "regulate the time, place and manner of certain forms of public expression" without input from the University Senate. Hundreds of students and faculty members protested the suspension and signed open letters in condemnation.
According to Drop Site News, the claim that SJP and JVP used "threatening rhetoric and intimidation" was debunked by journalists and retracted by Rosberg privately in a University Senate Plenary on November 17, 2023, but Columbia did not reverse the suspension of SJP and JVP and never issued a public statement to correct and clarify the matter. The suspension heightened conflicts between faculty and administration.
Coalition In response to the suspension of JVP and SJP from Columbia University four days before, students gathered for a rally at the sundial on November 14, 2023, where the formation was announced of a new coalition of several student organizations called Columbia University Apartheid Divest demanding that Columbia "disclose financial investments and sever all ties with the apartheid regime of Israel." The rally featured speeches from representatives of the Palestinian, Black, anti-Zionist Jewish, Latine, Queer, and Indigenous student organizations that joined the coalition, and the crowd stretched from the sundial to Butler Library.
Within a day, CUAD had 38 signatories. By November 29, there were 80 student organizations that had joined CUAD. Among the over 120 student groups that eventually joined CUAD were groups such as the Anthropology Graduate Student Association, and the Caribbean Students Association, as well as campus chapters of Amnesty International, Jewish Voice for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Young Democratic Socialists of America.
A previous iteration of Columbia University Apartheid Divest was founded in 2016 by students in the university's chapters of JVP and SJP as a BDS-affiliated protest group calling on the university to divest from Israel. Its creation in 2016 was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. It became inactive in 2020 after a Columbia College Student Council referendum to divest from Israel passed, but did not affect the university's investments.
CUAD's demands included unsuspension of JWP and SJP, ceasefire in the Gaza War, Columbia University stopping dual degree program with Tel Aviv University, change of the university's events policies and protection of academic freedom. In October 2024, several organizations left CUAD to form the Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition, with one of them stating that CUAD had become a "nebulous organization that is not led by the affinity group of Palestinian student organizers". In April 2025, Students for a Democratic Society said that Instagram account of CUAD was banned without reason or prior warnings.
In April 2024, a video that had been filmed by CUAD member Khymani James that January resurfaced on social media. The video showed James saying "Zionists, they don't deserve to live comfortably, let alone, Zionists don't deserve to live" and “Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists”. The university responded by banning James from campus. He later apologized, saying that his comments were "wrong" and "not in line with the CUAD community guidelines". In an Instagram post, CUAD said that his comments did "not reflect his views".
Announcement of Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition as distinct from CUAD October 19, 2024, the Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC) announced itself as a "collective of Palestinian student organizers who wish to reclaim the pro-Palestinian student movement and recenter Palestine at Columbia University" in the Columbia Daily Spectator. It distinguished itself from CUAD, which it described as having "shifted from a horizontally structured coalition founded on Palestinian liberation to a nebulous organization that is not led by the affinity group of Palestinian student organizers."
President of Columbia University Claire Shipman announced in July 2025 email announcing various changes it described as measures to combat antisemitism, as Columbia was finalizing its $200 million settlement with the Trump administration, "has not, and will not, recognize or meet with the group that calls itself ‘Columbia University Apartheid Divest’ (CUAD), its representatives, or any of its affiliated organizations." The university sent cease and desist letters to social media accounts of CUAD for using the name of the university without permission. As a result, CUAD's X account changed its name to "CU Apartheid Divest" and said in its bio that it was "proudly unrecognized" by the university.
In March 2026, following the assassination of Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei, X account of CUAD posted the Persian phrase (), translated literally as "death to America" though also sometimes as "down with America". The post resulted in backlash against CUAD and Columbia University. 50th speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich called for CUAD to be disbanded and its members deported from the United States. Senator Ted Cruz and representative Elise Stefanik condemned the post. In response, Columbia University issued a statement condemning CUAD, stating that it is not a recognized student organization and is not affiliated with the university. It also stated that there is no evidence that account of CUAD is operated by a member of the university.
Political views The statement announcing CUAD's formation listed six demands in addition to economic divestment and academic boycott: that Columbia call on government officials to demand an immediate ceasefire; divest from companies benefiting from Israeli apartheid; cancel the opening of the Tel Aviv Global Center; cease the dual-degree program with Tel Aviv University; protect academic freedom and stop vilifying pro-Palestinian activism; and reinstate SJP and JVP.
CUAD situated itself within the tradition of student activism at Columbia, including protests in 1936 led by Robert Burke against affiliations between the institution and its former president Nicholas Murray Butler with Nazi Germany, student protests in 1968 against the university's involvement in the Vietnam War and racial segregation, and student protests against South African apartheid. In its foundational statement, the coalition announced:CUAD, or Columbia University Apartheid Divest, is a coalition of student organizations that sees Palestine as the vanguard for our collective liberation. We are a continuation of the Vietnam anti-war movement and the movement to divest from apartheid South Africa. We support freedom and justice for the Palestinian people, and for all people.In a 2023 Columbia Daily Spectator op-ed, CUAD described itself as a coalition of student groups who see Palestine as a "vanguard" for "collective liberation" whose goal is to persuade Columbia University to divest from Israel in order to achieve a "liberated Palestine and the end of Israeli apartheid". CUAD said that its a feminist, anti-capitalist and pro-decolonization organization which supports Land Back in the "Turtle Island" and Palestinian right of return.
October 2024 political and ideological shift In October 2024, The New York Times reported that CUAD had become more radicalized and had begun openly supporting Palestinian militant groups fighting against Israel. On the anniversary of the October 7 Attacks, CUAD called the attack a “moral, military and political victory”. In 2026, Robby Soave in Reason said that after Israel's killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the official Substack blog of CUAD described him as a "hero of the revolution" and called on the people to "reflect" on how to become "more like him". Haaretz and The Times of Israel reported that CUAD supported the 2024 Jaffa shooting in Israel that killed seven people, calling it a "bold act" and a "significant act of resistance".
On October 8, 2024, CUAD rescinded its apology for statements made by Khymani James, saying that it supports "liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance" and that it let James down.