Hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman suspends Columbia University donations over pro-Palestine protests

Hedge fund billionaire and Columbia University graduate Leon Cooperman said that he would suspend his donations to the college, over pro-Palestinian protests by university students and professors, unless he saw a change.

80-year-old Cooperman said that he believed the students protesting against Israel have “s**t for brains”.

In an interview with Fox News, Polish-Jewish descendant Cooperman added, “We have one reliable ally in the Middle East - that’s Israel. We only have one democracy in the Middle East. That’s Israel. And we have one economy tolerant of different people - gays, lesbians, etc. And that’s Israel.”

It has been 20 days since Hamas entered Israel, levelling one of the biggest attacks on the country. Over 7,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis have lost their lives since the beginning of the war, as per official data.

The New York-based Omega Advisors' CEO further said that he didn't know what the students were doing.

Cooperman said that he would stop donating to his alma mater unless he saw a change. “Now, the real shame is I’ve given Columbia, probably about $50 million over many years. I’m going to suspend my giving. I’ll give it to other organisations.”

When the interviewer asked if he meant he would not donate any more money to Columbia, Cooperman, having a worth of about $2.8 billion, responded, “Yeah, unless I see a change.”

This comes as the Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History professor at Columbia, Joseph Massad, called the Hamas' attack on Israel “awesome”. In an article published by Massad on The Electronic Intifada, he called the attack a “stunning victory”.

A petition, with over 60,000 signatures, sought Masaad's termination accusing him of “condoning and supporting terrorism”.

The petition said, “Regardless of one’s stance on the conflict, supporting and praising one of the worst acts of terrorism in history is never acceptable.”

A letter supporting Massad, signed by thousands of school's alumni, staff and student body, has also been issued condemning the petition and it calls upon Columbia University's President Nemat Shafik to “unequivocally guarantee his physical safety and his academic freedom”.

Cooperman said that he asked the University to fire Massad. “I told them that they should fire this professor that made the comments he made.”

He added that while war was bad, supporting Hamas' actions was disgraceful.

“I mean, war is hell. War is not good for anybody, but to praise what Hamas did is disgraceful, disgusting.”

The university has cancelled the Columbia Giving Day saying, “After careful consideration and consultation with University and alumni leadership, we decided that this is not the appropriate time to move forward with Columbia Giving Day. It is postponed for the time being, and a decision on rescheduling will be made in the near future.”

Earlier this month, Shafik issued a statement asking the students to avoid any language that “vilifies, threatens or stereotypes entire groups of people”.

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