Itai Dreifuss, an Israeli Columbia University student who has spent the last three years studying there, has encountered isolation and hate long before pro-Palestine demonstrators set up an encampment on the campus lawn this month.
Dreifuss, who grew up in the Middle East, says life at Columbia quickly changed following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas upon Israel, and the ensuing war in Gaza. That was months before the pro-Palestine encampment took root on campus last week, leading to arrests, counter-protests and similar action on other college campuses around the country.
