A pro-Palestinian student organization at Columbia University has intensified its statements regarding Israel, asserting that “liberation requires any necessary measures, including armed resistance.”

In a post made on Instagram this Tuesday, the group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) retracted its previous apology from April related to a member expressing, “Be thankful that I’m not just out there killing Zionists.”

The student, Khymani James, had previously apologized, stating in a video released by CUAD, “Those remarks do not reflect CUAD or my views.”

Now, the group is offering a new apology to James.

“We inflicted lasting harm on you by contributing to the alienation you faced from fellow students, activists, the media, and the public,” the group acknowledged this week.

CUAD initiated student encampments at Columbia last spring to counter Israel’s actions in response to Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023. Similar movements emerged at other universities across the nation.

On the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks, CUAD distributed newspapers with the title “One Year Since Al-Aqsa Flood, Revolution Until Victory,” and published an essay labeling the attack as a “moral, military, and political victory,” as reported by the New York Times.

Many Jewish students at Columbia have voiced their concerns online about the intimidation they currently feel on campus.

“If any acts of violence happen today at Columbia, let me be clear: The administration is to blame,” stated senior Eliana Goldin in a post on X on Monday, October 7. “They are aware of the credible threats to Jewish students and still choose to remain neutral.”

The protest activities led by students have stirred considerable controversy, raising challenges for university officials who are attempting to balance free speech rights while addressing potential violence or antisemitism.

“Statements that promote violence or harm fundamentally contradict the guiding principles of our institution. Calls for violence have no place at Columbia or any academic institution,” Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang expressed to YSL News.

Nonetheless, the student demonstrators are not softening their approach or wording.

“Confronted with violence from an oppressor armed with the world’s most formidable military,” they stated this week, “when all peaceful avenues have been exhausted, violence becomes the only feasible path forward.”