Universities Turn Hostile as Students Rally over Israel-Hamas Conflict
Since the start of the latest conflict between Israel and Palestinian terror groups, college students across the United States have launched rallies to show their support for either side of the war. While many of these protests were initiated peacefully, multiple universities have seen violence ensue as pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups clash.
At the University of North Carolina, tensions between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli student groups came to a head, resulting in shouted confrontations and even physical altercations. Pro-Palestinian students held a “resistance rally” where participants brandished signs reading “Free Palestine” and “Colonization Is Violence.” Pro-Israeli students, in response, held signs with slogans like “Stand with Israel” and “Rape Is Not Resistance.”
Meanwhile, at the University of Massachusetts, conservative commentator Kassy Dillon reported being harassed while covering a “Day of Resistance” rally. Dillon, who is Jewish, claimed that two individuals followed her to her car after she left the anti-Israel protest. They repeatedly questioned her ethnicity and, upon entering her car, a group of protestors approached her, demanding her address and phone number.
Columbia University was forced to close its campus last Thursday after concerns of violent clashes emerged. The decision followed a disturbing incident in which an Israeli student was attacked by another student using a broomstick. This violent altercation occurred as the student attempted to tear down pro-Israeli protestors’ signs. The assailant has been charged with assault and harassment as a hate crime.
The University of Wisconsin also witnessed troubling scenes, with students waving Palestinian flags and voicing anti-Israel slogans, such as “Glory to the murderers” and “We will liberate the land by any means necessary.” Although numerous former athletes at the university publicly condemned this rhetoric, the school administration refrained from immediately issuing a statement denouncing these violent chants.
