‘Target on my back,’ Fear grips Jewish students as hundreds protest Columbia suspending Palestinian groups
Jewish students at Columbia University said they feel unsafe as hundreds of faculty and students protest the suspension of two pro-Palestinian groups from campus.
A video purports to show an Israeli woman confronting an anti-Israel gathering at Columbia School of Social Work convened to justify the October 7 terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas.
The four-minute video posted to social media shows Ariana Pinsker-Lehrer standing alongside a campus doorway and responding to speakers who criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for referring to Hamas terrorists as "human animals."
"People in this school, from this group, have referred to my people as Zionist dogs. Dogs, as far as I'm concerned, are animals. So, I think it's a little bit hypocritical for you to talk about a leader of another country while you are participating in the same form of dehumanization," Pinsker-Lehrer said as some in the room finger-snapped in approval.
She went on to say that students studying social work who characterize the recent terror attacks on Israeli citizens as anything other than a massacre are "unacceptable."
A young woman confronted a pro-Palestinian gathering at Columbia University over their justification of the Hamas attacks. (Photo by Shawn Inglima for NY Daily News via Getty Images/Shai Davidai)
Pinsker-Lehrer said she was open to having a genuine conversation about the Israeli military operations in Gaza but cannot do so while students openly call for violence against her and her children.
"I have two kids. When you write messages saying 'by any means necessary'—is my life a means that is necessary? Are my children's lives a means that is necessary for liberation? I do not believe that what is happening in Gaza right now is a means of security for my people. I don't believe in that. I think that violence leads to more violence. If anything, growing up in Israel and Palestine has taught me that violence is the absolute wrong solution for anything," she said.
Pinsker-Lehrer suggested that while many of those at the gathering are studying to help others, they are currently operating as "surrogates of other people's pain" and are adding "flames" to a fire that is metaphorically burning down her home.
"Do better. Do better. I am here to do better. My activism for Palestinians in Israel and Palestine has come from a place of love of a place that I want Palestine to be a better country," Pinsker-Lehrer added.
NYC COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY FACULTY AND STUDENTS PROTEST SUSPENSION OF 2 FAR-LEFT GROUPS
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators attend a protest at Columbia University in New York City, New York on Thursday, October 12, 2023. Dueling demonstrations for both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli student groups were hosted on the campus amidst calls for global protests regarding the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
She also said that there are 14 million people between the river and the sea that "aren't going anywhere," and people need to find a solution that involves all of them.
"That is not what you are doing here. That is not what you are doing here," Pinsker-Lehrer added.
Columbia University's administration previously shut down the pro-Palestinian student group's planned event, Fox News Digital learned Monday.
A group that calls themselves the "Columbia Social Workers 4 Palestine" advertised the event to discuss the "Significance of the October 7th Palestinian Counteroffensive."
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Columbia referred Fox News Digital to a statement on social media that said the school was investigating why the canceled event continued without university permission.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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