Anti-Israel demonstrations at the Columbia University campus have left many Jewish students feeling unsafe and contemplating how they will finish the semester.
Students Elisha Baker and Andrew Parker Stein are pushing university leaders to do more to shut down the antisemitic vitriol. In response to the chaotic demonstrations, the university announced that Monday’s classes would be held virtually.
“People have been saying for a while now that they don’t feel safe, and a lot of that had to do with the rhetoric,” Parker Stein, a junior who witnessed the chaos firsthand, told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on Monday.
Pro-Palestine protesters demonstrate along NYPD police lines outside of Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
“I want to be clear right now, this has now gotten into physical safety. I no longer feel physically safe on my campus.”
He also claimed protesters hurled insults at the Jewish group, calling them “inbred” and insisting they “have no culture.”
Baker shared similar testimony, accusing the protesters of shouting antisemitic phrases by telling Jewish students to “go back to Poland” or shouting death to the Zionist state.
“We’ve been calling this out for six months now… and now we see what happens when you don’t shut down antisemitic rhetoric, and you allow these people to feel entitled,” Baker said Monday.
“There were some arrests on Thursday. That was great. I commend the university for doing that. Guess what? They walked 20 yards to their left. They do the exact same thing on the other lawn, and they’ve been there since Thursday, and now they’re harassing us,” he continued.
Parker Stein said demonstrators took one of his friends’ Israeli flags and tried to light it on fire. All the while, they threw “hard objects” at his friend and “started harassing him.”
“Nothing is done with this,” he said.
Jewish students described having “no protection” and said they were forced to hide behind a taller student as they exited campus.
Pro-Palestine students demonstrate on Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
Parker Stein continued on that note, telling Kilmeade, “An angry mob of students chased us off-campus screaming, ‘We don’t want no Zionists here. Get out of here. F Israel,’ and a bunch of other [things].”
Parker Stein claims video evidence exists to prove that people are sneaking onto campus, indicating the crowd is a mixture of students and outsiders.
Video footage from the demonstrations last week showed the anti-Israel protesters shouting pro-Hamas slogans, including one incident in which a protester was captured shouting “We are Hamas” on video. Another video last week from near the campus showed a man shouting that October 7th would be “every day.”
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Columbia University President Dr. Nemat “Minouche” Shafik said in a statement Monday that she was “deeply saddened” by what has unfolded.
“Our bonds as a community have been severely tested in ways that will take a great deal of time and effort to reaffirm. Students across an array of communities have conveyed fears for their safety and we have announced additional actions we are taking to address security concerns. The decibel of our disagreements has only increased in recent days. These tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas.”
“We need a reset,” she added. “To deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps, I am announcing that all classes will be held virtually on Monday. Faculty and staff who can work remotely should do so; essential personnel should report to work according to university policy. Our preference is that students who do not live on campus will not come to campus.”