Open in App
  • Local
  • U.S.
  • Election
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Education
  • Real Estate
  • Newsletter
  • New York Post

    Columbia grad’s mic cuts off during anti-Israel commencement rant

    By Emily Crane,

    2024-05-15

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1vcu7L_0t30Kv2400

    A Columbia University student’s microphone appears to cut off just moments after she started delivering an anti-Israel commencement speech rant.

    Saham David Ahmed Ali tore into the Ivy League school as she delivered the class speaker address at the Mailman School of Public Health’s commencement ceremony on Tuesday.

    Video shows the moment the student’s mic suddenly appeared to start glitching as she was midway through ripping Columbia’s “silence” over the ongoing Gaza war.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3kz9cn_0t30Kv2400
    The student’s microphone appears to have been cut off just moments after she started the speech. Columbia Public Health / YouTube

    Microphone cuts off during Columbia grad’s anti-Israel commencement speech rant

    The microphone cut off several more times over the next few seconds, prompting those in the crowd to start repeatedly chanting “let her speak.”

    A spokesperson for Columbia University denied that her speech was intentionally cut off.

    “The momentary loss of audio during the speech was an unintentional technical glitch,” the college spokesperson told The Post.

    Columbia’s Minouche Shafik & other college chiefs must refocus on their core mission: education

    Despite the initial hiccup, Ali was able to deliver the rest of her roughly 15-minute anti-Columbia and anti-Israel tirade without further interruptions.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=40AYHd_0t30Kv2400
    Ali was slamming Columbia’s silence over the ongoing Gaza war as her mic suddenly cut out. Columbia Public Health / YouTube

    In the lead up to the mic saga, Ali had declared it felt “dystopian” to walk the halls of the school “scrolling through social media, standing in our classrooms as I witness the genocide of the Palestinian people.”

    CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR METRO DAILY NEWSLETTER

    “The silence on this campus and the pressure to say nothing while administration and professors assert that ‘we’re here for you’ while we’re actively witnessing the most televised genocide of our lives made me lose hope,” she said.

    Ali rounded out her speech by rattling off the demands the anti-Israel student group Apartheid Divest have been making as protests have plagued the Morningside Heights campus for weeks.

    She also called for the Ivy League to boot NYPD officers from the campus and grant amnesty to students cuffed and hauled away during the disruptive demonstrations.

    Additional reporting by Doree Lewak

    For the latest metro stories, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/metro/

    Expand All
    Comments / 0
    Add a Comment
    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
    Most Popular newsMost Popular

    Comments / 0