On spring - Judy Maltz in Haaretz:

‘The event that set everything in motion was an April 17 congressional hearing on rising incidents of antisemitism at Columbia. Nemat Minouche Shafik, the university's president, had originally been invited to attend the hearing held by the House committee on higher education in December, along with three of her colleagues – the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT. She notified the committee that she would be out of the country then, and her hearing date was rescheduled for April 17.

So Shafik had four months to learn from the mistakes of her colleagues – two of whom lost their jobs because of their disastrous testimony. Flanked by the co-chairs of Columbia's Board of Trustees and the co-director of the university's task force on antisemitism, Shafik came prepared with many of the answers the Republican-controlled committee wanted to hear. She acknowledged that Columbia hadn't done a good enough job cracking down on antisemitism and promised to do better.’

(…)

‘On Thursday, the University of Southern California announced that it was closing its campus until further notice, and that the main graduation ceremony would be canceled this year, after nearly 100 students were arrested following clashes with campus police and the LAPD. At New York University, the administration set up a plywood wall to block a main campus plaza, after several protesters were arrested there this week, and at Harvard, the main Palestinian student group was expelled.’

(…)

‘Shafik is in a tough position. Bringing in the National Guard or the NYPD would likely add further fuel to the flames. It might also cost the president her job, as many members of the faculty and the university senate are furious that she summoned police to campus last week.
On the other hand, if she allows the anti-Israel protesters – whose rhetoric has sometimes crossed the line into antisemitism – to continue flouting the rules, she will have lost her authority and be seen as breaking her promise to make Columbia a safe place for Jewish students.’

(…)
‘For sure. It is spring, the weather is getting warm, the trees are blooming, and who doesn't want to be outside this time of year? It is not a coincidence that in the bitter cold of December, when the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT faced hostile questioning in Congress about antisemitism at their schools, no student protesters were pitching tents on campus and trying to steal the show.’

Read the article here.

Springtime is great season for protests, in the same way that let’s say fall is a great season for turkeys.

In an attempt to be seen as tough (‘she meant business’) the Columbia University President only managed to incite the students.

And once again, Jews will be perceived as the favorite minority of ugly rulers (Court Jew) - in this case ugly rightwing politicians.

And there seemed to be too many people with some sort of authority who have never heard of the blessings of repressive tolerance.