New York – As Columbia University Authorities are continuing negotiations with a group of anti-Israel protesters who have set up tents on a lawn in the middle of campus, Jewish and Israeli students say they are wary of walking in the area after sunset due to the presence and aggressiveness of the protesters. Are afraid.
“I had a friend who was beaten,” said third-year Itai Dryfus. columbia graduate and Israeli military veteran from Tel Aviv. “It’s scary. It’s violent.”
He pointed to a confrontation over the weekend where he said anti-Israel protesters confronted a group of counter-protesters who support the alliance between the US and Israel.
“You had Jewish people holding American and Israeli flags, and people holding a sign that said, ‘Al-Quds next target,'” he said, referring to the militant al-Quds Brigades, a Palestinian terrorist group. Hamas. “These are the same people who bomb buses, rape women and put children in ovens.”
Pro-Palestinian supporters rally outside Columbia University in New York City on April 23, 2024. In response to recent campus unrest and concerns regarding Jewish student safety, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik announced a shift to online learning starting Monday. He urged faculty and staff to prioritize remote work. (Gina Moon/Getty Images)
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped more than 200 others and took them hostage. Israel’s military response is still ongoing, and protesters at several major US universities, including Columbia, USC, UT Austin and Yale, have arrested dozens of anti-Israel protesters.
In Columbia, a group of protesters who had set up tents on school grounds were escorted out last week, but returned with more tents and took over the West Lawn.
A masked protester stands guard at a closed gate on Columbia’s West Lawn, where dozens of students have set up tents as they call on the university to take a series of anti-Israel measures amid clashes between the country’s military and Hamas militants who attacked in October. Are demanding. 7, 2023. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
“It’s loud, and it’s scary, and a lot of Jews and Israelis don’t walk around the campus after the sun goes down,” Dreyfus said.
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Jewish students have told Fox News Digital that they faced harassment, anti-Semitic rhetoric and even violence in confrontations with protesters. Several students who said they could comment on behalf of the camp declined to speak to Fox News Digital.
Dreyfuss told Fox News Digital that his girlfriend, who is also Jewish, was followed into the house. He said he was told to hit himself, spit and scream.
“I don’t think there’s any way this can happen on any campus where a large portion of your student body is just scared for their lives,” he said.
A student from Colombia prays near a wall covered with posters of hostages who are in captivity after being kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
Dreyfus, speaking in front of a wall covered with missing person flyers dedicated to the remaining Israel hostages, said he believed the protesters also refused to speak with Jewish students or Israel supporters and called them “and Left in an echo chamber to become “even more radical”.
“I think a lot of things, especially inside the camp, are not about someone who looks like a Zionist or a Jew,” he said.
School leaders have been negotiating with the occupiers for several days, but so far they have refused to ask the police to remove them for a second time.
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik leaves Low Memorial Library on the campus of Columbia University on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The embattled President, who is under pressure to resign from his post, reportedly met with Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson. His speech at the first university. (Fox News Digital)
“I have full confidence that these discussions will be successful,” Colombia’s President Minogue Shafik said in a statement Thursday. “If they are not, we will need to consider alternative options to clear the West Lawn and restore peace to campus so students can complete the semester and graduate.”
Anti-Israel protesters form a encampment on the campus of Columbia University in New York City, Monday, April 22, 2024. The university announced that all classes will be held virtually today in response to the ongoing demonstrations on campus. (Peter Gerber)
He also said that the school planned to take action against students who violated the school’s code of conduct.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson leaves Columbia University on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in New York City. Johnson called on Columbia University President Minouche Shafik to resign ahead of his speech on campus today as student-led anti-Israel protests escalate. (Fox News Digital)
“We are working to identify those protesters who violated our policies against discrimination and harassment, and they will be put through the appropriate disciplinary processes,” she said. “The right to protest is necessary and protected in Colombia, but harassment and discrimination are contrary to our values and an insult to our commitment to being a community of mutual respect and kindness.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared on campus on Wednesday and asked Shafiq to resign if the protests were not controlled.
Students remove a tent inside Columbia University in New York City on April 24, 2024. Columbia University student organizers were given a midnight deadline to resolve negotiations with the university to dismantle the pro-Palestinian encampment, with Columbia President Minouche Shafik considering “alternative options” if no agreement was reached. Was – but then they pushed the deadline. (Gina Moon/Getty Images)
Some Jewish students and critics of the university’s actions to date have also accused the administration of anti-Semitic discrimination.
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Earlier this month, another Israeli military veteran who attends columbia He sued the school, accusing it of harshly punishing him for using “fart spray” on anti-Israel activists while turning a blind eye to his anti-Semitic rhetoric.
