Columbia University has elected Israeli student Maya Platek as Columbia student government president for the 2024-2025 school year, the organization Students Supporting Israel (SSI) announced Friday.
The election of an Israeli student for the role comes as the Columbia campus experiences an overwhelming wave of anti-Israel protests and encampments.
Platek has been determined to speak up for Jewish students on campus as a member of SSI, an organization that, according to its website, aims to allow for a pro-Israel voice on college campuses.
Platek introduced herself to the student body in a speech following her election.
“I am an Israeli rising senior and was recently elected as the Student Body President at Columbia University. As Columbia hits a peak of antisemitism and anti-Zionism, I am honored to have been elected as next year’s Student Body President. More than ever before, it is critical that our voices are heard and our safety is protected.”
Columbia University has also been slammed with unprecedented levels of antisemitic activity, including violent behavior against Jewish students.
Speaking out against antisemitism on campus
Platek spoke out against the antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment throughout campus, criticizing her classmates and professors for their behavior on campus.
“Our classmates and professors choose to manipulate history in order to demonize us as people have done all throughout history. They choose to rewrite our identity in order to justify terrorist regimes. They choose to cheer in our pain and in our suffering, and they choose to delegitimize the only Jewish state in the world when there are dozens of Christian and Muslim ones," Platek explained.
"They choose to advocate for our removal from this campus over our nationality. That is discrimination,” she proclaimed as she stood on a platform on the university’s campus.