The primary reason for students to protest is to elevate their voices regarding their view of what should happen with the Israel/Hamas/Palestine situation.

If protestor voices are elevated and one of the leading voices says to kill Zionists, that's in fact one of the things they're contributing to the discussion. Not because it impacts whether Jewish students feel safe, but because it is a stated attitude relevant to the conflict. It shouldn't overshadow the economic divestment demand, or the statements made on signs, but it's a relevant part of the discussion.

On the other hand, whether protest camps at Columbia are or are not being cleared by the NYPD is, I agree, not relevant to the war itself; whether Jewish students feel safe is slightly relevant--if it gets so bad that Jewish students feel they have to flee to Israel then that is relevant to some outlooks (especially the one state solution: dissolution of Israel idea). You can't really have a comprehensive discussion of Israel without a discussion of Zionism, and the safety of Jews outside Israel is an important consideration when considering whether Zionism is justified.

Now, I think that the harsh actions against the protest camps are completely misguided. I suppose the 60s were a long time ago now, and people have forgotten the lessons of Berkeley. And, because it's harsh and unreasonable, we need attention on that too. But it shouldn't specifically take attention away from Gaza.

(That I strongly disapprove of how Columbia and other universities are handling things does not mean I necessarily support the students' demands--I just think that they should be able to express them. The student protestors do, of course, also need to let other people express their perspectives. They haven't always been great at that, but they don't have the power of the NYPD at their disposal.)