Last Update April 28, 2024 03:04pm ET

Antisemitic agitators continued protesting at college campuses across the country Sunday as police made arrests and attempted to clamp down on the takeover. The anti-Israel movement started at Columbia University and quickly spread up the East Coast, to the Midwest and as far as Texas and California.

Some Columbia University protesters ‘will become terrorists,’ Alan Dershowitz says

Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitzsounds 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.”

Bloomington mayor stands with anti-Israel protesters, calls on police to use de-escalation tactics

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.

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2 hour(s) ago

Israel compared to Nazis and ISIS in Dearborn sermon: ‘You need to reeducate the Jews’

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

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

2 hour(s) ago

Journalist suggests it’s anti-American to ‘not support’ young people engaging in college protests

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

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2 hour(s) ago

Pat Fallon: It’s time to get tougher on campus protesters

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.

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

4 hour(s) ago

GWU students stand up to anti-Israel protestors, warn faculty are ‘indoctrinating’ kids with ‘lies’

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

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6 hour(s) ago

Columbia says it has no plans to evict anti-Israel agitators as admin opens ‘dialogue’ with students

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. 

Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share

7 hour(s) ago

Hamas’ sexual violence on Oct. 7 revealed in new documentary: ‘The world needs to see what happened’

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

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7 hour(s) ago

USC says continued anti-Israel protests ‘will not be tolerated,’ warns agitators to clear out

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.”

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8 hour(s) ago

Democrats in disagreement over whether party has anti-semitism problem ahead of elections

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

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8 hour(s) ago

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein among 100 arrested protesting at Washington University

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

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8 hour(s) ago

WATCH: Indiana University protesters shout “Pigs go home!” at officers observing anti-Israel rally

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