The situation unfolding at Columbia University and at campuses across the country should not come as a surprise. This did not happen overnight.

Universities have for a long-time tolerated antisemitism compared to other forms of discrimination. The demonstrations of the past three weeks are merely the latest example of what happens in the void of leadership between firmly taking a stance and trying to placate both sides. Tensions rise. Words escalate to actions. Threats turn to violence.

There is right and wrong. Protesting in a passionate and lawful way is a beautiful exercise in freedom of speech. Supporting Palestinians fight for independence is a view. Calling for the divestment of your university from Israel is a view.

Terrorizing, intimidating, and calling for antisemitic action toward Jews and the annihilation of Israel is not a view. It is not freedom of speech. It is not a demonstration. It is wrong. And it is dangerous.

This is what happens when antisemitic behavior and rhetoric is left unchecked, if not encouraged for a long time. Inaction, tolerance, and equivocation leave space for hate, intimidation, and terror. Universities must take a very clear stance and demonstrate a zero-tolerance policy for antisemitism just as there should be zero tolerance for racism, Islamophobia, discrimination based on sexual orientation, or any other form of bigotry. There is no other option.

Protestors have infringed on and threatened law-abiding students’ rights to safety—basic rights that Columbia president Minouche Shafik and all university leaders are duty-bound to provide. In-person classes were cancelled. Many students—feeling unsafe amid aggressive and noisy protests and facing threats and harassment—have left campus and this intolerable atmosphere just when students should be studying for exams and preparing to walk at graduation.

No one has the right to disrupt campus operations materially, nor to threaten or intimidate students, nor to damage and destroy property—not students, nor faculty, and certainly not outsiders to the universities. Would similar expressions against the Black or LGBTQ communities (or any other minority) be tolerated?

There is nothing complicated about what’s been going on at Columbia, UCLA, and college campuses nationwide. The right to protest does not equal the right to cause chaos—sentiment shared by President Joe Biden in his address to the nation last night, calling this a “moment for clarity…Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is.”

Shafik’s recent testimony before Congress was a strong example of leadership, outshining that of her Harvard, Penn, and MIT presidential peers. She was unequivocal that calls for genocide of Jews would violate Columbia’s student conduct codes. I applaud Columbia for announcing in February its new Interim University Policy for Safe Demonstrations. But is it working?