Undercover at Columbia and Exposing Antisemitism

Zach Sage Fox, a pro-Israel Jewish influencer, is wearing a keffiyeh and sporting a British accent – as well as a hidden camera. In his new viral video, which has more than 1 million views, he’s walking near the Barnard College campus at Columbia, going up to students, and asking them what they think about the anti-Israel and antisemitism sentiments on campus since October 7.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Zach Sage Fox (@zach.sage)

“Terrorism is one of those words where people haven’t really thought about the meaning,” one student tells Zach.

He responds, “Like there’s nuance in terrorism?” he asks.

She agrees.

When Zach asks another student if Columbia is more Zionist or pro-Hamas, another student says it’s more “pro-Hamas.”

One person says that “Zionists are f—ing idiots,” while another tells Zach, “I don’t associate with Zionists.”

The most appalling statement that comes out of someone’s mouth? That if rape leads to decolonization, then it’s justified.

“That was pretty shocking,” Zach told Aish. “That was something I could only catch with a spy pen. No one could catch that on camera. It really gives you an insight into how these people think. It shows you how these people are really pro-Hamas and pro-terror. Pro-Palestinian is not what they are. If they actually cared about the people living in that region, they would not want them to live under a terrorist regime that would rape women and kill gay people.”

Uncovering the Truth at Columbia and Beyond

Columbia has been a hotbed of antisemitism over the past year and a half, with violent protestors and encampments taking over campus. Recently, the Trump Administration threatened to cut $400 million in federal funding for the university due to all the activity there; they recently caved to demands to attempt to eradicate antisemitism there by banning face masks to conceal someone’s identity, for instance.

“If Columbia instates the mask ban, you will start seeing these mobs going away very quickly,” said Zach.

While going undercover is risky, according to Zach, filming as himself could be even riskier.

“Sometimes I feel less uncomfortable when I’m playing someone from the opposition,” he said. “It feels safer in a way. It feels unsafe when I’m going as myself, as a Jew or a Zionist.”

When talking to students and administration from Columbia and Barnard, Zach found that they used DEI terms like “unoppressed” vs. “oppressed.” In the Palestine vs. Israel debate, this means that Israel is the oppressed and the Palestinians are the unoppressed.

“It puts Jews, who are the most oppressed people of the past century in terms of death toll numbers and genocide numbers, somehow at the top of the oppression,” he said. “Islamist theology and DEI have worked together in a scary way, and you need to rid the school of that.”

Zach filmed and released the video before the presidential administration’s crackdowns, which turned out to be perfect timing.

“I got in there right at a moment before there was fear that people might be trying to ask questions and find the truth,” he said. “This video is illuminating what people at schools like Columbia are actually saying behind closed doors when they think nobody is looking. I played a blatantly antisemitic character. The fact that it was this easy to get students to open up to a stranger saying awful things about Jews and encourage them to say the same is really shocking.”

How Jewish Students Should Respond

Zach does not think that Jews should abandon Columbia and their own colleges.

“Jewish students do not need to leave because then these institutions will be even worse off,” he said. “It gives me hope [that there are pro-Israel students], but the thing that is scary is a lot of them are so afraid to speak up. The ones who do are targeted, followed, harassed, stalked and receive death threats. There is more incentive to not speak up than speak up. Until the schools crack down and make it unacceptable for terrorism to be treated like an acceptable ideology, I don’t think there is a ton of hope.”

That doesn’t stop Zach from trying to improve things on college campuses and beyond.

“It’s important for me to share the truth,” he said. “It’s not that I never get scared, but I am not afraid of these people to the same extent that others might be. I want to use that gift to do the work and be brave for my community and my people, but it’s not always easy. There are days I see really scary stuff that keeps me up at night. We need leaders in this moment – and none of my leaders or heroes, especially in Hollywood, stepped up. It’s an honor to be able to speak up.”

Zach has also joined the Aish Ha’am slate in the current elections of the World Zionist congress in order to further his efforts to combat antisemitism and strengthen Jewish pride.

The post Undercover at Columbia and Exposing Antisemitism appeared first on Aish.com.