Columbia University’s biggest anti-Israel student group — which notoriously organized last year’s on-campus encampment in protest of the war in Gaza — posted “death to America” in Persian after the US and Israel killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“Marg bar Amrika,” the Columbia University Apartheid Divest [CUAD] group posted on X on Saturday — a rally cry made famous by founder Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini.
The US and Israel killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a targeted strike Saturday. Anadolu via Getty ImagesThe words are a transliteration of the Farsi phrase.
The post was removed by X, but the organization, which is not recognized by the Ivy League school, doubled down.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest organized the school’s on-campus encampment last year to protest the war in Gaza. James Keivom
“X forced us to delete our “marg bar amrika” tweet in order to gain back access to our account but the sentiment still stands,” CUAD wrote.
Columbia University responded to the troubling post in a statement emphasizing CUAD is not “affiliated in any way with the University.”
“There is no evidence that anyone currently in control of their account is a current Columbia student, staff, or faculty member. They are illegally using the Columbia name,” the New York City school said.
CUAD was among the student protest groups that received praise from Khamenei, who was killed during Saturday’s airstrikes on the Islamic state, for being an integral part of the anti-Israel “resistance” in the US.
“You have now formed a branch of the Resistance Front and have begun an honorable struggle in the face of your government’s ruthless pressure, which openly supports Zionists,” the 86-year-old leader wrote in 2024 as protests spread across US college campuses against Israel’s military actions in Gaza, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.
“The people’s conscience has awakened on a global scale & truth is coming to light. Besides you students from dozens of universities in the U.S., there have also been uprisings in other countries among academics & general public,” he added.
The US and Israel attacked Iran early Saturday morning after the US’s latest talks with Iran, in which Trump pressured Tehran for a deal to constrain its nuclear program, fell through.
In addition to Khamenei, Iran’s ex president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had previously called for the extermination of Israel and was under house arrest for an attempted coup weeks ago, was also killed.
Israel said it also killed 40 top Iranian military officials, including the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the defense minister.
