Columbia bars Gaza encampment activist who said 'Zionists don't deserve to live' and discussed beating them to death...four months after holding disciplinary over his vile remarks

A Columbia student who posted a livestream in which they stated 'Zionists don't deserve to live' has finally been barred from the university campus, four months after making the incendiary comments.

Protester Khymani James, who served as a spokesperson for the pro-Palestinian encampment as a member of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, was banned from stepping foot on the university grounds on Friday and now faces disciplinary action.

James, who uses 'he/she/they' pronouns, said in the video that 'Zionists don't deserve to live' and people should be grateful James wasn't killing them. 

They already faced a disciplinary hearing with Columbia bosses earlier in the year in which they were asked to clarify what they meant - yet no action was taken.

No disciplinary action was taken as a result of comments despite James stating they wished to be kicked out so they could go and travel to South America. 

Khymani James, who uses he/she/they pronouns, said repeatedly during a January livestream that 'Zionists do not deserve to live' and that the world would be better if they were not in it

James, a senior at the university, has walked back the comments that made in the online video from January after they suddenly received renewed attention.

'What I said was wrong,' James, said in a statement. 'Every member of our community deserves to feel safe without qualification.'

James had been one of the leaders of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment that has overtaken the New York City school's campus, but protest organizers say the comments didn't reflect their values. 

The university has not clarified if James has been suspended or permanently expelled. 

'Calls of violence and statements targeted at individuals based on their religious, ethnic or national identity are unacceptable and violate university policy,' a school spokesperson said.

Khymani James, a senior at Columbia University, has now been banned from stepping foot on the New York City campus

Khymani James made the comments four months ago and had faced a disciplinary hearing but the university initially took no action

In a recording of the now four month old stream posted to X by Daily Wire journalist Kassy Akiva, James meets with employees of Columbia's Center for Student Success and Intervention over an Instagram post of his that warned Zionists: 'I don't fight to injure or for there to be a winner or a loser, I fight to kill,' they wrote.

A Columbia employee asked: 'Do you see why that's problematic in any way?'

James responded: 'No.'

James continues to defend the position, that all Zionists 'don't deserve to live,' even laughing at one point during the video.

'These are all the same people,' they said. 'The existence of them and the projects they have built, i.e. Israel, it's all antithetical to peace. It's all antithetical to peace. And so, yes, I feel very comfortable, very comfortable, calling for those people to die.' 

Sharing their logic to the university employees, James said: 'I think that taking someone's life in certain case scenarios is necessary and better for the overall world. I personally have never killed anyone.

'Thank the lord that no one has put me in that position.'

James then compares Zionists to Hitler and Nazi soldiers, as well as Haitian slave owners, whose slaves had to kill them 'in order to gain their independence. 

'These were masters who were white supremacists. What is a Zionist? A white supremacist. So let's be very clear here, I'm not saying that I'm going to go out and start killing Zionists. 

'What I am saying is that if an individual who identifies as a Zionist threatens my physical safety in person, i.e. puts their hands on me, I am going to defend myself and in that case scenario, it may come to a point where I don't know when to stop,' they added.

'Zionists don't deserve to live comfortably, let alone Zionists don't deserve to live.

'The same way we are very comfortable accepting Nazis don't deserve to live, fascists don't deserve to live, racists don't deserve to live. Zionists, they shouldn't live in this world,' they said, after calling the meeting both 'institutional violence' and 'a joke.'

'I feel very comfortable, very comfortable, calling for those people to die,' they said just before the stream ends. 

James (seen right) with Progressive Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. They have previously said they hope to be in Congress one day

James is seen in an earlier photo from 2020. The university has not clarified if James has been suspended or permanently expelled

Pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment is seen at Columbia University on Friday

The pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment is seen at Columbia University on Friday

'I think students who make comments like that don't belong on campus,' Brian Cohen, the executive director of Columbia/Barnard Hillel, the center for Jewish campus life told the New York Times.

'It's one of the more blatant examples of antisemitism and, just, rhetoric that is inconsistent with the values that we have at Columbia,' added Noa Fay, 23, a first-year student. 

'I was mostly very surprised to see that it was just so out in the open.' 

On Friday, Columbia students who inspired pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country said Friday that they reached an impasse with administrators and intend to continue their encampment until their demands are met. 

The announcement after two days of exhaustive negotiations came as Columbia's president faced harsh criticism from faculty. 

Professors and staff at several other universities across the country have similarly condemned leadership over the use of police against demonstrators, which has led to fierce clashes, injuries and hundreds of arrests. 

The tensions add pressure school officials from California to Massachusetts who are scrambling to resolve the protests as May graduation ceremonies near. 

As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities across the country are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. 

Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus. 

Student negotiators representing the Columbia encampment said that after meetings Thursday and Friday, the university had not met their primary demand for divestment, although there was progress on a push for more transparent financial disclosures. 

'We will not rest until Columbia divests,' said Jonathan Ben-Menachem, a Jewish fourth-year doctoral student. 

Columbia officials had said earlier that talks were showing progress. 

'We have our demands; they have theirs,' university spokesperson Ben Chang said, adding that if the talks fail, Columbia will have to consider other options.

An encampment protesting the genocide in Gaza, goes into its second day, on the grounds of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States on April 23

NYPD officials watch as people demonstrate in support of Israel outside the Columbia University campus amidst the student protest encampment in support of Palestinians

Meanwhile, Columbia's president, Minouche Shafik, faced a significant - but largely symbolic - rebuke from faculty Friday but retained the support of trustees, who have the power to hire or fire the president.

A report by the university senate's executive committee, which represents faculty, found Shafik and her administration took 'many actions and decisions that have harmed Columbia University.' 

Those included calling in police and allowing students to be arrested without consulting faculty, failing to defend the institution in the face of external pressures, misrepresenting and suspending student protest groups and hiring private investigators.

'The faculty have completely lost confidence in President Shafik´s ability to lead this organization,' said Ege Yumusak, a philosophy lecturer who is part of a faculty team protecting the encampment.

Following the report, the senate passed a resolution that included a task force to monitor how the administration would make corrective changes going forward.

In response, Chang said in the evening that 'we are committed to an ongoing dialogue and appreciate the Senate´s constructive engagement in finding a pathway forward.'