Columbia’s Leading Antisemite

CLAIRE HOWLETT

Claire Howlett is the leader of an organization in an antisemitic coalition that explicitly endorses violence.

Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) is a self-described “coalition of 116 different organizations…represent[ing] thousands of Columbia students across nine different schools.”

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CUAD, speaking for the whole collective, proudly posted images of graffiti at Barnard College’s entrance of Hamas’s target-marking “red triangle,” with messages including “Long live the intifada” and “WE PROMISED TO DISRUPT DISRUPT DISRUPT.”

CUAD also publicly announced its support for Casey Goonan, who faces federal charges for using “several destructive devices — Molotov cocktails” to destroy a University of California at Berkeley police cruiser. A post claiming responsibility for the firebombing said it was “done in retaliation against UCPD and the University of California and ended with ‘Death to amerikkka Glory to the martyrs.’”

Claire Howlett is a leader of Columbia University Care Access Project, a member organization of CUAD.

Howlett serves as Outreach Coordinator for the group. She is also part of the Columbia-Bassett Medical School Program Class of 2026, working for Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown.

The examples above are just a small sampling of the hateful, antisemitic rhetoric CUAD has put out. It’s entirely acceptable to be pro-Palestine or anti-genocide. Unfortunately, Claire Howlett‘s coalition is openly pro-Hamas.

The connection between violent rhetoric and actual violence has been made abundantly clear in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The display of the red triangle and endorsement of domestic terrorism are stark and unmistakable threats. 

Claire Howlett has chosen to help lead a group making these threats, and is well on her way to becoming a doctor. She and Columbia University should take a more serious look at whether she can uphold her promise to “do no harm.”