Antisemitic agitators rage on at campuses across the country

George Washington University reiterated Sunday that anti-Israel protesters on campus are violating the university's rules of conduct and behavior and emphasized that "the hateful language being displayed has no place on our campus."

President Ellen Granberg and Provost Chris Bracey said the university remains committed to protecting the right to activism and free expression of diverse viewpoints, but that those things "are not unlimited."

"Our highest priority is, and always will be, maintaining a safe campus environment that allows for the world-class academic experience our students and their families have entrusted us with providing," Granberg and Bracey said in a joint statement.

"The encampment on University Yard violates our clearly defined rules of conduct and behavior," the statement continued. "Further, the actions of some protesters have been highly offensive to many members of our community. The protest is jeopardizing our ability to meet the priorities of our university community, and the hateful language being displayed has no place on our campus."

The university directed protesters to move to an alternate location at Anniversary Park, the statement reads, but on Thursday – the first day of the demonstration – campus police sought assistance from the Metropolitan Police Department after the demonstrators refused to relocate multiple times.

Organizers at the University Yard encampment said officials suspended seven students for their participation in the demonstration. They said protesters in the encampment maintain access to food, water and medical attention, if necessary, and accused the university of denying access to bathrooms and running water.

The university's statement, on the other hand, said they are allowing access to food and water and that demonstrators have been provided with "clear information" on how to access medical assistance if needed.

There have been no incidents of violence, but as the group of protesters on University Yard grew larger, Granberg and Bracey said their priority became "safeguarding our community and implementing the safest resolution possible with the personnel and resources GW had available."

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As anti-Israel protesters at George Washington University continue to stay in encampments on and near campus, organizers say they do not plan on leaving anytime soon.

Organizers said they will provide tutorials on how to use the portable bathrooms in the encampment.

"We need to be able to live sustainably here for as long as possible until divestment, until disclosing, until liberation," one organizer said. 

University officials said the Corcoran Hall bathroom is accessible to protesters, but people in the encampment said the university revoked their bathroom access.

Protesters set up a bathroom tent with buckets on Thursday.

As anti-Israel agitators continue to take over college campuses across the nation, a professor at Cornell University told Fox News Digital that what is happening — at Cornell University in particular — is no surprise and something he says has been building for a long time now.

"This is not a peace movement. This is not ‘let everybody live,’ you know, let bygones be bygones. This is an uncompromising, rejectionist ideology that rejects the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East. And that is their goal. Tear it down. Intifada, revolution. That is their only solution in their own words. And I think people need to listen to them when they tell you they want an intifada. Believe them," Cornell professor William Jacobson said.

Jacobson said what is also concerning about these protests is that the administrations, especially at Cornell and Columbia, are doing nothing to ensure student and faculty safety.

"I've spoken out against it before, and I've called on the administration to stop the radicalization and their very aggressive anti-racism program, which demonizes people based on their ethnicity and their race and inevitably leads to Jews being targeted. So, this has been building, and the fact that students are now bold enough in the main quad of campus, large groups of students to chant, ‘There is only one solution. Intifada or revolution.’ It's really creepy," Jacobson said.

He added it's all a reflection of everything that's gone wrong on the campus, how the administration has not been responsive to alumni calls, calls from him and calls from parents to stop the ideology he says is embedded in the campus.

Jacobson said what is happening is no accident, and it's only gotten worse since Oct. 7.

"Their worst instincts, their demands for violence, their genocidal calls have been unleashed, and the administration has been very tepid in the way it has responded, not only at Cornell, but we see it at Columbia. And that tepid response has led to increased, vitriolic chants on campus. People march through buildings with bullhorns," Jacobson said at Cornell.

"The administration tells them not to do it, and they do it anyway. So, there really is a problem on Cornell's campus and other campuses with an emboldened, aggressive anti-Israel movement that seeks to intimidate people."

Fox News' Stepheny Price contributed to this report.

Virginia Tech announced early Monday morning that there would be an ongoing police presence on campus as anti-Israel protests are underway.

"Continued police activity around Graduate Life Center," Virginia Tech wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The school also urged people to avoid the area near Graduate Life Center.

"Urgent, please leave and avoid the area. Call 911 if you need help," the post on X added.

An Israeli student has reportedly been elected as president of student government at Columbia University against a backdrop of anti-Israel protests that have disrupted campus life over the past week.

The organization Students Supporting Israel (SSI) announced the election of Israeli student Maya Platek on Friday.

Following her election, Platek said she was “honored” to have been elected the Student Body President for the 2024 to 2025 school year “as Columbia hits a peak of antisemitism and anti-Zionism.”

“More than ever before, it is critical that our voices are heard and our safety is protected,” Platek said.

Her election came as student anti-Israel protests have swept college campuses nationwide following the arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University.

Former U.S. ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman on Sunday issued a scathing message to university presidents who have acquiesced to anti-Israel protests.

In a post on X, Friedman asked whether “just one” Ivy League president had the courage to drawn a hard line on protesters who supported terrorists.

“Could just one Ivy League president make the following statement to his or her students?” Friedman said. “Those of you who believe that rape, torture, kidnapping and murder of innocent civilians is a legitimate response to Hamas’ perceived grievances in Gaza are no longer welcome at our university. Your values are just too inconsistent with ours. Accordingly, please make plans to permanently leave our campus at the end of the semester.” 

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt issued a statement Sunday, condemning the “lawless behavior” of anti-Israel protesters who have taken over two academic buildings, and rebranded them "Intifada Hall."

The university said its issue was not with the protest itself, but with the “ongoing unlawful occupation of campus buildings by students and non-students.”

The protesters’ objectionable actions, the university said, include such “criminal acts” as “vandalism, theft, destruction of state property and intimidation of University employees,” actions that have created “safety hazards for those who have barricaded themselves inside, blocking exits to the building.”

“This has nothing to do with free speech or freedom of inquiry,” the university said. “ It is lawless behavior that has harmed the vast majority of our students whose education has been interrupted, damaged the reputation of our school, and drained resources from the accomplishment of our core educational purpose.”

The University said protesters inside Siemens Hall – one of two that has been taken over – were ask to move their demonstration outside but refused. Police attempted to enforce the order to disperse but individuals resisted arrest, ending in a confrontation that escalated and led to police withdrawing.

The University said its goal “has always been to bring a peaceful end to the occupation, and we continue to talk to anyone willing to have productive and respectful dialogue.”

It estimated that the cost of illegal activities will be “in the millions.”

“That includes damage done by theft, vandalism and graffiti, and the supplies and personnel needed to repair that, in addition to the loss of revenue from disruption to University operations,” the University said. “But the true cost has been the disruption of the education of our students who came here to learn and get a college degree.”

Anti-Israel protests sprang up anew outside the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan on Sunday, days after a few dozen protesters set up tents and occupied its building.

A handful of FIT students rallied for a time before marching to 7th Avenue and 28th street and establishing a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”

Video obtained by Fox News Digital shows protesters chanting: “There is only one solution, intifada revolution!”

Various banners and signs hung around the encampment, including “End Genocide” and “While we are learning Gaza is burning.”

On Thursday, protesters stormed the FIT building, overwhelming security guards. Some sat on the floor or milled around, many wearing facemasks and keffiyehs.

Other protesters outside the building held signs and Palestinian flags. Around a dozen protesters spent the night in tents and sleeping bags inside a campus building. The institute’s museum, which is located in the building where the demonstrators set up camp, was closed Friday. 

Colleges across the U.S. are reporting that some of the anti-Israel protesters participating in, and getting arrested at demonstrations are not part of the school community, and instead are outsiders.

Emory University in Atlanta released a statement Thursday that 28 people were arrested during a demonstration at the Emory quad, 20 of whom were members of the school community.

In the statement, Cheryl Elliott, the vice president of public safety at Emory University, said a few dozen protesters arrived at campus just before 7:45 a.m.

When the protesters arrived, she said, they ignored and pushed past Emory Police Department (EPD) officers stationed at the quad and set up tents in an area where equipment and materials were staged for a commencement ceremony.

This is an excerpt of a story by Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner. Click here to read the full report.

More than 200 anti-Israel protesters have erected around 45 tents on Yale’s cross campus green, per the Yale Daily News.

Protesters were blocking access to the green with two human chains, according to the paper.

Approximately 10 to 12 officers are on the scene.

Yale police chief Anthony Campbell has not confirmed whether the department will make any arrests, saying that was up to university administrators.

“Our plans for now are to just sit tight,” Campbell was quoted as saying.

He said later he would be in contact with administrators who will decide how the Yale Police Department should proceed.

Pro-Palestinian protesters hold up signs while occupying a building on the campus of California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, in Arcata, Calif., Monday, April 22, 2024. (Andrew Goff/Lost Coast Outpost via AP)

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt is closing its campus for the remainder of the semester as anti-Israel protesters continue their occupation of two academic buildings.

In a message posted Saturday, the university said a “hard closure” was being enforced, and that individuals were prohibited from entering or being on campus without permission.

Anyone who is on campus without permission is subject to citation or arrest, the university said.

“Students who live on campus in residence halls are presumed to have permission to remain in the limited area of the hall they live in and dining facilities,” the university wrote. “Until further updates, student residents do not have permission to be in other parts of campus.”

The university shuttered its entire campus late Monday in response to people occupying Siemens Hall and Nelson as part of broader protests sweeping college campuses nationwide in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Protesters there have dubbed the occupation: “Intifada Hall.”

Dozens of people are arrested by the Indiana State Police riot squad during a pro-Palestinian protest on campus. (Getty Images)

Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson on Sunday clarified her support of anti-Israel protesters on the campus of Indiana University and urged police to use de-escalation tactics rather than force.

In a video statement to Facebook on Sunday, Thomson said that her message a day prior was intended to encourage peaceful protests and “ensure de-escalation rather than the use of force.”

“The purpose of my message yesterday was really intended to stand with the peaceful protesters and to be clear that our police department, the Bloomington Police Department, would not be involved in advancing on the protesters in the future.” Thomson said.

She reiterated her support of the anti-Israel protesters, saying she stood with their “right to free speech [and] their right to assemble.”

The mayor suggested that police intervene “only when all de-escalation paths have been exhausted.”

“I hope that we can proceed and learn together better. I am committed to learning from this experience and I'm grateful for your support and your response,” Thomson said.

A religious leader in Dearborn, Michigan, compared Israel to Nazi Germany and ISIS in a sermon at the local Islamic Institute of Knowledge. 

"Zionism is the ISIS of today. If there was an ISIS for the Muslims, there is also an ISIS for the Jews," Dr. Baqir Berry, the leader of the Dearborn-area mosque, said in the sermon, according to a translation by the Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI). "This (Jewish) ISIS is a million times worse than the ISIS of the Muslims. We should know this. A million times (worse). The members of ISIS did not commit the kind of crimes perpetrated by the Zionists."

The comments, which were made during last week’s Friday sermon, come as Dearborn has entered the national spotlight as a center of resistance against President Biden’s campaign for re-election over his handling of the conflict in Gaza.

Activists in Dearborn, which has the country’s highest per capita population of Muslims, led a movement to encourage voters to mark "uncommitted" on their ballots instead of supporting the president during Michigan’s Democratic primary in February, with over 100,000 voters casting the protest vote.

But concerns about extreme rhetoric out of Dearborn have also surfaced, most notably after a rally on the last Friday of Ramadan featured a speaker that led those in attendance in chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

While leaders of both the "Listen to Michigan" and "Abandon Biden" movements, as well as local religious leaders, told Fox News Digital last week that such rhetoric represents a vocal minority of area residents, concerns remain.

"There’s definitely support for Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran," Steven Stalinsky, the executive director of MEMRI, told Fox News Digital last week.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Michael Lee

Journalist Kara Swisher said on Saturday that to not support younger people engaging in college protests could be seen as "anti-American."

While discussing the anti-Israel protests happening on college campuses on CNN, Washington Free Beacon reporter Eliana Johnson said it would be good politics for President Biden to come out against the protesters who are telling Jewish people to go back to Poland, and saying Zionists don't deserve to live.

"Well, some people are saying that," Swisher jumped in. "The question is, are you for order and against chaos, or for protests and the right to free speech? And what's interesting is how quickly everyone is shifting. All the free-speech warriors are suddenly like, ‘Order, order, we must have order.’"

"And so there are heinous things that are said, but there is a line where you have to support also young people, especially when they do things that they do badly. Not to support them, is sort of anti-American in a way," she continued.

Johnson responded and said free speech was fine but noted that university life has been profoundly affected by the demonstrators. Columbia University moved classes online in the wake of the protests and the University of Southern California (USC) canceled its graduation ceremony. 

"We've gone well beyond free speech and into shuttering the operations of universities. And I do think it's a missed opportunity for Biden to say there are limits, we've gone beyond speech and into harassment and disruption here, and we will not stand for that," she added. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Hanna Panreck

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, joined ‘Fox News Live’ on Sunday and argued that those behind the pro-Palestinian demonstrations are ‘bullies’ and urges the universities to show ‘strength.’

"If you're repeatedly ignoring lawful directives from your university you should be removed, and if you're a student you should be expelled. That would stop these illegal protests very quickly. If you're not part of this university and you're trespassing then you should be arrested and prosecuted," Fallon said.

"But they're trying to negotiate. They're letting the inmates run the asylum. At Columbia University, the university president won't even condemn the genocidal chant of "From the river to the sea," he added.

Fallon went on to call on President Biden to "show some strength for a change." He argued Biden should hold a nationally televised address asking protesters what Israel should have done after October 7, and whether Israel has a right to defend itself and to exist.

Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz sounds off on the rise in antisemitism and gives his thoughts on New York v. Trump.

"[Universities] have been teaching antisemitism for several years," Dershowitz said. "Among the people in front of Columbia University are people who will become terrorists, who will help Hamas, who will be part of the fifth column. How do I know this? Because I represented many dissenters and protesters during the 1960s and 1970s. And you know what happened to some of them? Some of them turned from advocating terrorism to becoming terrorists."

Dershowitz then listed two examples of female activists who turned from protesters to terrorists by joining the notorious Weather Underground group.

"That's gonna happen to these protesters. It's coming to a theater near you. These are people who, when Hamas comes to America--and they will--and they approach some of these kids who they've been grooming now for years, they will help them plant bombs just the way the radical Weather people planted bombs in the 1970s."

The anti-Israel protests on college campuses are showing no signs of stopping anytime soon, and many George Washington University students are fed up.

GWU student Richard Li escaped religious persecution as a Christian in China at 12 years old and is now standing up for his threatened Jewish classmates.

"Oppression always starts with hatred. And hatred, time and time again, started with antisemitism, and that is what we're seeing on college campuses… on our college campus right now, right in front of our doorsteps. And it's very, very sad," Li argued during an appearance on "Fox & Friends Weekend."

George Washington University suspended at least seven student protesters who organized an anti-Israel encampment on campus and refused to leave after demonstrations stretched into a third day. One protester went viral after announcing that the group was "not going anywhere" 57 hours into the encampment.

American universities witnessed a sudden spike in on-campus encampments after Columbia University made headlines for its disruptive anti-Israel protests. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Kayla Bailey

Columbia University shot down reports that it plans to order a campus lockdown or begin evictions on Saturday.

Protesters have occupied Columbia's campus for more than a week, demanding the college divest itself from companies that work with Israel. While some arrests have been made, the administration has so far tolerated the encampment.

“Dialogue between university officials and student organizers is ongoing. We want to be clear: There is no truth to claims of an impending lockdown or evictions on campus,” the Columbia administration’s statement said.

The statement came one day after Columbia was forced to ban a student who discussed "murdering Zionists" at the protest.

Junior Khymani James expressed "regret" early Friday after he went viral online for previously suggesting people should be "grateful" he wasn't "murdering Zionists," whom he likened to "White supremacists" and "Nazis."

Without explicitly mentioning what they were, James copped to inflammatory comments that were first reported by The Daily Wire, during a livestream of an official Columbia inquiry in January.

"I actually kind of hope they do kick me out because I've been meaning to travel to South America," James said of whether he would remain on as a student at Columbia during the livestream. 

Nearly seven months after the October 7 massacre, a new documentary brings to light the atrocities and sexual assaults committed against Israelis.

Former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s documentary, "Screams Before Silence," features firsthand accounts of the horrors of that day when roughly 1,200 Israeli lives were taken.

"When you hear this chaos for like 20 minutes or 15 minutes, you understand that something much worse [is] happening right over there. It doesn't stop. That was the the time when I started to be afraid I'm going to be raped," a woman recalled from the Nova Music Festival attack. 

Sandberg said on "America’s Newsroom" Friday that she took on the project because "the world needs to see and acknowledge what happened."

"After October 7th, the reports were coming out about not just mass murder, but mass sexual violence. And the usual people who should be speaking out were either ignoring it or denying it. And that's not okay," the Lean In founder told Dana Perino. 

The documentary allows viewers to hear directly from first responders and survivors who were on the ground. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Amy Nelson

University of Southern California (Getty Images)

The University of Southern California says it is preparing to crack down on anti-Israel agitators who have taken over the campus for days despite repeated orders to disperse.

Joel Curran, senior vice president of communications at USC, said the university's campus has been continually vandalized "by individuals who are part of the group that has continued to illegally camp on our campus."

“Despite repeated warnings, this group has also continued to disrupt our campus operations and harass students and others, in violation of numerous university policies,” Curran said.

"While the university fully supports freedom of expression, these acts of vandalism and harassment are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated," he added.

Curran went on to note that University President Carol Folt has made attempts to meet with the protesters, but they have rejected her offers.

"We are hoping for a more reasonable response Sunday before we are forced to take further action," Curran said. "This area is needed for commencement setup early this week."

Democrats are not seeing eye to eye on whether the party has a problem with antisemitism ahead of the November general election. 

"It’s easy to call out people with Tiki torches saying ‘Jews will not replace us’ or the former president saying ‘very fine people on both sides,' Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said in a statement to Fox News Digital, referencing a rally with White supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. 

"However, when Democrats look inward and see ‘go back to Poland’ or ‘kill the Zionists,’ they pretend the antisemitic rhetoric on the left isn’t happening, or they are silent," he added. "And as it turns out, the left and the right have something in common."

As the war between Israel and terrorist group Hamas has gone on, initially spurred by the latter's surprise attack on innocent civilians on Oct. 7, acts of antisemitism have been observed more often in the U.S. 

The Anti-Defamation League reported that U.S. antisemitic assaults in the three months following the October attack in Israel shot up, surpassing the totals for entire years in the past. 

The ADL said 3,291 assaults happened between Oct. 7 and Jan. 7. In 2022, 3,697 assaults occurred over the course of the entire year. The totals for each of the last 10 years, except for 2022, were less than that three-month period following the beginning of Israel's war with Hamas. 

This month, anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrations rapidly expanded at top-tier universities, with a Gaza solidarity encampment that is persisting at Columbia University inspiring many of its higher education counterparts to take over their respective campuses, disrupt school activity, and intimidate Jewish students. 

A rabbi at the New York school ultimately reccommended Columbia Jewish students return home to ensure their own safety.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Elizabeth Elkind

Green Party 2024 presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein was among 100 people arrested Saturday at Washington University in St. Louis, her campaign manager confirmed to Fox News Digital by email on Sunday morning.

Stein's campaign manager, Jason Call, said that he, Stein and deputy campaign manager Kelly Merrill-Cayer were all arrested at the encampent on the campus.

"The demand from the encampment was specifically for the university to divest from Boeing, which manufactures munitions used in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza at their nearby St Charles facility," Call said to Fox News Digital. "The Stein campaign supports the demands of the students and their peaceful protest and assembly on campus. Student protest for peace and civil liberties has always represented the best part of our collective moral conscience. Solidarity."

More than 100 people were arrested at the Washington University anti-Israel protest on Saturday, which is one of many demonstrations taking place this week at college campuses across the country.

USC has closed its campus to non-residents and cancelled on-stage graduations, more than 100 were arrested this week at Columbia University and dozens were arrested at the University of Texas on Wednesday. Demonstrations and protests have also taken place at Yale, Harvard, Minnesota, Johns Hopkins and Arizona State University, where 93 people were arrested on Saturday morning.

Fox News' Scott McDonald contributed to this report

Indiana University protesters harangued the police officers who took down their anti-Israel tent displays on Saturday, video shows.

A group of demonstrators were seen standing together at Dunn Meadow and shouting "Pigs go home!" at the officers.

"They took down all their s--t," one observer was heard saying on video.

The footage also shows a group of fraternity brothers with their hands on their hearts while "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, in an apparent counter-protest.

According to the Indiana Daily Student, at least 50 officers were at the scene. The protests have been intensifying over the past few days. Around 33 protesters were arrested on Thursday.

Fox News' Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report