Campus Protests Over Israel Spark Safety Concerns

People watch as New York University students set up a "Liberated Zone" tent encampment in Gould Plaza at NYU Stern School of Business in New York City on April 22, 2024. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

NEW YORK CITY—The first thing Max Hayim, 19, saw when he arrived at The New School for Social Research on East 16 Street in New York on April 22 was protestors yelling “Free Palestine” in front of and inside the school. As a Jewish person, he didn’t feel safe, so the Manhattan resident skipped class.

“If they mark me as absent or demote my grade from that, I would create an issue out of it because I don’t think I deserve to be penalized based off the fact I’m afraid to go to class,” Mr. Hayim told The Epoch Times.

The New School is the latest university to be invaded by pro-Palestinian protesters. Student protesters at Yale University in Connecticut were arrested, and rallies also occurred at M.I.T., New York University (NYU), and the University of Michigan.

Columbia University’s Manhattan campus has been occupied with crowds of people for the past five days, which has resulted in arrests, a faculty walkout, and a virtual alternative to in-person classes.

“I don’t necessarily see this all as an anti-Israel protest,” Mr. Hayim said. “I see a good amount of these beliefs as just being anti-Semitic. Some of these protestors don’t necessarily think that’s what they’re endorsing or fighting for, but at the end of the day, it all does just contribute to anti-Semitism.”

Max Hayim skipped class at The New School on April 22, 2024, because of anti-Israel protests. Juliette Fairley/Epoch Times

On April 21, NBC reported that Columbia/Barnard Hillel and Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life Rabbi Elie Buechler recommended that Columbia University students return home and stay there for safety reasons and out of concern about anarchy.

Organizers of the Columbia University rallies are demanding complete and unconditional separation by the university from every company that they believe is complicit in alleged Israeli apartheid and colonization of Palestinian people and land.

Supporters expressed satisfaction in speeches that were posted on Instagram that the university lawn’s occupation was costing the administration “thousands of dollars.” 

The lawn is where the Ivy League university’s annual graduation festivities take place.

“The arrest of the Columbia students was a horrible thing, but it exposed the nature of Columbia University as a corporation that stands with Zionist interests,” Samar Atham told The Epoch Times. “It also helped spark the movement that we’re seeing that’s growing across the country and in New York City, in particular here at The New School and at NYU.”

Ms. Atham, 26, graduated from a West Coast university but attended the rally in front of The New School to show support.

Protestors camp inside the New School on April 22, 2024. Juliette Fairley/The Epoch Times

She said she believes that Columbia University administrators gave students a virtual option for classes because they want to hide from protestors.

“This idea that Jewish students are unsafe is, in fact, a Zionist myth,” Ms. Atham said. “There are Jewish students at Columbia who are leading the encampment. There are Jewish students at NYU who are involved in doing the encampment, and there are Jewish students here at The New School who are leading encampments.”

Harshit Singal, an NYU finance student, was surprised by the April 22, 2024, rally in front of the Stern School of Business. Juliette Fairley/Epoch Times

At NYU, the protests took place in front of the Stern School of Business on West 4th Street.

Harshit Singal, 19, an undergraduate finance major, was surprised by the rally, which obstructed his ability to attend class.

He gained entry into the Stern building through a side door because the front entrance was blocked by hundreds of protestors. 

“I think it’s interesting this is happening in front of the Stern School of Business given the strong Jewish presence in finance,” Mr. Singal told The Epoch Times. “I sure hope an inclusive environment is made for everyone ... Muslim, Jews, Hindus, everyone—and that we can just live together peacefully.”

An unidentified CUNY student holds up a sign in support of the April 22, 2024, pro-Palestinian rally. Juliette Fairley/The Epoch Times

NYU professor John P. Waters, 55, who teaches Irish studies and English, recalled how effective it was to occupy a building when he was in college to protest against the practice of apartheid in South Africa. In the 1980s, anti-apartheid activism swept the nation’s universities, and in response, university administrations eventually separated from companies investing in South Africa.

“There was a good reason why people called on the universities to live up to their values at that moment, and I think there’s good reason for people to call on universities to live up to their values in this moment,” Mr. Waters told The Epoch Times at the NYU rally. “I support a cease-fire.”

An NYU grad student supports the April 22, 2024, pro-Palestinian rally in front of the NYU Stern School of Business. Juliette Fairley/The Epoch Times

Anna Cordeiro, 50, a master’s student at the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, said she is happy that New York students have undertaken the issue.

“We should hold a space for people to express their opinions,” Ms. Cordeiro told The Epoch Times. “There is no escaping it. Everybody knows it very well. It’s genocide. There’s no way to paraphrase and make it less violent than what it is. The moment has come for people to speak about it freely without being concerned with whether it’s going to cause problems for their career.”