What are we doing?

[Hazelelponi]

One of the organizations behind the occupation at Columbia University is Jewish Voice for Peace, and hundreds of the protesters on the campus are Jews. This protest and others you see across the United States are not anti-Jewish; they are pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist. There's a difference.

Does the color of someone's skin matter staring down the barrel of a gun? Nope, not at all. What matters is that you're staring down the barrel of a gun.

it doesn't matter who makes the threats. Terrorist threats against Americans and their invited guests will not and should never be tolerated. Most especially not on our own soil, where those Jewish kids have rights too.

This radicalization of these children on college campuses has to be stopped. The professors teaching this nonsense have to go, the university administrations encouraging this has to go, and we need to just start teaching these kids again - real stuff that contributes.

The lunatics are running the asylum and it's past time for that to change.

 

[Hazelelponi]

Where is the outrage regarding the verbal attacks against the black community because they wouldn't comment on the war? They weren't backing Israel or condemning Palestine and more than a few were upset. They felt they were owed. And there's that video alleging the greatest threat to Jews are young blacks in America. I think that one came from AIPAC or a similar group during a visit last year.

~bella

Since you came across the story and knew about it where was the thread you made on the topic? Can you link me?

This is the story I came across and did a thread on... Clearly, it's a different topic. Maybe we could stay on it while we are here.

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

I condone, or agree with, that press release which you shared. My question is: How long did it take for the White House to issue this?

The statement came out yesterday. I don't know when the protests started, but all reports of it seem to be within the last day or 2, so 24 hours or less?

 

[Hazelelponi]

The statement came out yesterday. I don't know when the protests started, but all reports of it seem to be within the last day or 2, so 24 hours or less?

The protests have been going on for months in one form or another since Oct. 7, but they are now beginning to become violent and ever more extreme.

Biden has made a statement twice since this weekend's escalation, once through a spokesperson and once in an off the cuff - in the off the cuff he did exactly what Trump did about the Charlottesville protests and said their were basically good people on both sides.

Which is funny after the Charlottesville protests and his stance against Trump saying it though I don't disagree.

He's addressing it, but very informally so far.

It's really time for action at this point though as this has turned into another"occupy" movement, the FBI should be crawling through those campuses and making very real arrests... National guard to break up the protests if we can't do it any other way.

It's time for the adults to come back to the room... These children are being radicalized on US campuses through and through, and it has to stop from every level.

Yale offered a meeting with two people from the board of trustee's and the protestors said no, they are simply going to stay until they get their way..

That's when Yale called the cops... this is completely out of control at every campus across the country and it's clearly being coordinated from somewhere...

 

[JosephZ]

Does the color of someone's skin matter staring down the barrel of a gun? Nope, not at all. What matters is that you're staring down the barrel of a gun.

it doesn't matter who makes the threats. Terrorist threats against Americans and their invited guests will not and should never be tolerated. Most especially not on our own soil, where those Jewish kids have rights too.

I agree that terrorist threats should never be tolerated, but do you have any evidence of these types of threats coming from the pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University? So far, I haven't seen any. The harassment of Jewish students appears to be taking place off campus and by people who do not attend Columbia University.

Mayor Eric Adams confirmed in a Thursday evening press conference that the NYPD arrested over 108 protesters. Adams said that there was “no violence or injuries during the disturbance.”

Chief John Chell said that it was Shafik, not the NYPD, who identified the demonstration as a “clear and present danger.”

“To put this in perspective, the students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner,” Chell said at the conference.

Shafik authorizes NYPD to sweep ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment,’ officers in riot gear arrest over 100

<i>This is a developing story. Check back for updates.</i>

www.columbiaspectator.com

Demonstrations just outside Columbia’s gates, which are currently closed to the public, took an especially dark tone over the weekend, when protesters who did not appear to be connected to the university were accused of celebrating Hamas and targeting Jewish students.

Nemat Shafik, Columbia’s president, said in a statement early Monday. “These tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas. We need a reset.”

“Go back to Poland!” one masked protester who clutched a Palestinian flag shouted outside the Columbia campus gates, according to a video posted on X.

Some on-campus activists said over the weekend that outside agitators were responsible for the antisemitic episodes and distanced themselves from the agitators.

“There’s so many young Jewish people who are, like, a vital part” of the protests, said Grant Miner, a Jewish graduate student at Columbia who belongs to a student coalition calling on Columbia to divest from companies connected to Israel.

That group said in a statement, “We are frustrated by media distractions focusing on inflammatory individuals who do not represent us,” and added that the group’s members “firmly reject any form of hate or bigotry.”

What We Know About the Protests and Arrests at Columbia University

After nearly two weeks of protests, demonstrators seized Hamilton Hall. By the end of the night, the police moved into to arrest them.

www.nytimes.com

The protests have been going on for months in one form or another since Oct. 7, but they are now beginning to become violent and ever more extreme.

There was an incident that occurred in January where a substance was sprayed on several of the pro-Palestinian protestors, but fortunately the chemical used was harmless for the most part and was nothing more than an offensive spray that can be purchased on Amazon, according to one of the Jewish students, a former IDF soldier, accused of using the spray on protestors.

I'm not going to link to the story since the name of the product may violate the forum rules, but you can google the following to find it:

Student accused of alleged chemical spray sues Columbia, claims substance was ‘non-toxic spray’ The lawsuit claims that the spray was the student’s “harmless expression of speech.”

Al Jazeera also did a short documentary on this incident involving the spraying of the pro-Palestinian students, which gives several accounts of pro-Palestinian students being harassed and threatened in addition to that incident. Once again, I can't link to it due to possible forum violations, but it can be found by going to Youtube and entering:

Pro-Palestine Students Face Alleged Chemical Attack At Columbia University

 

[Hazelelponi]

that terrorist threats should never be tolerated, but do you have any evidence of these types of threats coming from the pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University? So far, I haven't seen any. Most of the harassment of Jewish students appears to be taking place off campus and by people who do not attend Columbia University.

See the OP. I showed a specific and direct terrorist threat against those Jewish students on campus.

 

[JosephZ]

See the OP. I showed a specific and direct terrorist threat against those Jewish students on campus.

I've seen it. There's no context to the image or the video clip associated with it. It's possible the individual is part of the group holding the flags to make the point that they very well could be the next targets of the "Al-Qasam" brigades. There's just no way to know for sure. There's also no threatening posture of the person holding the sign and no threats being made to anyone in the video clip, just people who appear to be enjoying themselves, so it doesn't appear to be a threat to anyone.

 

[Hazelelponi]

There's no context to the image or the video clip associated with it

There doesn't need to be context. This is a terrorist threat on it's face, that's all the law requires.

We don't run around asking "well how did that make you feel?" Crimes are crimes because they place people in danger or threaten danger and or harm and when you threaten in the manner the sign holder did that is a crime.

I would also argue screaming "go back to Poland" is threatening as well.

Nearly 3 million Polish Jews died in the death camps of the Nazis there. Go back to Poland is specific and is also a threat.

Openly Jewish students are being prevented from attending classes, having to face verbal abuse and blockages for months just trying to get across campus to classes until it finally got so bad classes had to be cancelled for people's safety.

It's ridiculous, threatening, and honestly terrifying it's occurring in this country at all.

If this was any other people group, if this was white rednecks doing this stuff to black students would the news be treating this the same? Would we be asking the KKK how they felt?

 

[JosephZ]

There doesn't need to be context. This is a terrorist threat on it's face, that's all the law requires.

Context matters. We have no idea who the person is, what group she's affiliated with, if any, or what her intent was. The cardboard sign alone isn't threatening. She may have been implying that she may be the next victim of the Al Quassam Brigades by having the arrow pointed up at her. There's just nothing to go on one way or the other based on the image or the video.

I would also argue screaming "go back to Poland" is threatening as well.

I agree, but those threats cam from outside Columbia University and there's no evidence that students attending Columbia have made such threats.

Openly Jewish students are being prevented from attending classes, having to face verbal abuse and blockages for months just trying to get across campus to classes until it finally got so bad classes had to be cancelled for people's safety.

There are Jewish students participating in the occupation on the Columbia campus and 15 Jewish students have been suspended for participating in it.

“There’s so many young Jewish people who are, like, a vital part” of the protests, said Grant Miner, a Jewish graduate student at Columbia who belongs to a student coalition calling on Columbia to divest from companies connected to Israel.

That group said in a statement, “We are frustrated by media distractions focusing on inflammatory individuals who do not represent us,” and added that the group’s members “firmly reject any form of hate or bigotry.”

Some Jewish Students Are Targeted as Protests Continue at Columbia

After reports of harassment by demonstrators, some Jewish students said they felt unsafe. Others said they felt safe, while condemning antisemitism.

www.nytimes.com

 

[iluvatar5150]

There doesn't need to be context.

Why does anybody ever make this argument? You may as well just tell people that you want to believe what you want to believe and you don't care whether or not it's true.

 

[Valletta]

Did anyone ask the protestor what that sign actually meant? The text says it's "calling" for the killing of the students, but that's leaning into a lot of bias. The sign could very well be a warning that what the students are doing could draw attacks on themselves. Point being without actually asking what the sign actually means it could go either way. It's certainly provocative and no doubt that was the protestor's intent.


Comments like this certainly don't help. Hamas and The Palistinians are not the same. Democrats and Hamas are not the same. You know this, but you choose say this anyway. No doubt you're trying to be intentionally provocative as well.

Biden needs to step up and call out this radical wing of his own party and tell them to stop the threats. Jewish students need to be allowed to attend universities and be safe. Eisenhower called in troops in a similar situation:

Executive Order 10730: Desegregation of Central High School (1957)

EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Executive Order 10730, September 23, 1957 (Little Rock Crisis); General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. View Transcript This executive order of September 23, 1957, signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, sent federal...

www.archives.gov

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

Biden needs to step up and call out this radical wing of his own party and tell them to stop the threats. Jewish students need to be allowed to attend universities and be safe. Eisenhower called in troops in a similar situation:

Executive Order 10730: Desegregation of Central High School (1957)

EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Executive Order 10730, September 23, 1957 (Little Rock Crisis); General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. View Transcript This executive order of September 23, 1957, signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, sent federal...

www.archives.gov

He has. I posted the white house response condemning the anti-semitism. Columbia has its own police force as many other college campuses do also. Many arrests are being made. Do you really think that, given the history of protests and responses on college campuses that calling out the National Guard would be a good move?

 

[BPPLEE]

Did anyone ask the protestor what that sign actually meant? The text says it's "calling" for the killing of the students, but that's leaning into a lot of bias. The sign could very well be a warning that what the students are doing could draw attacks on themselves. Point being without actually asking what the sign actually means it could go either way. It's certainly provocative and no doubt that was the protestor's intent.


Comments like this certainly don't help. Hamas and The Palistinians are not the same. Democrats and Hamas are not the same. You know this, but you choose say this anyway. No doubt you're trying to be intentionally provocative as well.

I saw one of the protesters say “We are all Hamas” so the people you are defending may feel differently than you

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

I saw one of the protesters say “We are all Hamas” so the people you are defending may feel differently than you

lol, see, I'm not defending anyone. I've only spoken to context, because frankly I don't really know enough about the situation and don't actually care about it specifically enough to go deeper. I've said It certainly seems like some protestors are being extremely provocative. I've shared that white house response condemning anti-semitism. I haven't said that I agree or disagree with what they're protesting. This is the problem with all this. No one can say anything that doesn't get misconstrued, intentionally most of the time, as fully supporting and agreeing with, or fully condemning whatever messages, actions, behaviors, favorite colors, and most liked fast food of those involved.

So, step off.

 

[JosephZ]

I saw one of the protesters say “We are all Hamas” so the people you are defending may feel differently than you

Was this comment made on or off campus? Was the one making the comment a student at Columbia?

 

[BPPLEE]

Was this comment made on or off campus? Was the one making the comment a student at Columbia?

It was on campus. She looked young enough to be a student but wasn’t carrying books and a student ID so I can’t be sure.
Funny how that works

 

[BPPLEE]

lol, see, I'm not defending anyone. I've only spoken to context, because frankly I don't really know enough about the situation and don't actually care about it specifically enough to go deeper. I've said It certainly seems like some protestors are being extremely provocative. I've shared that white house response condemning anti-semitism. I haven't said that I agree or disagree with what they're protesting. This is the problem with all this. No one can say anything that doesn't get misconstrued, intentionally most of the time, as fully supporting and agreeing with, or fully condemning whatever messages, actions, behaviors, favorite colors, and most liked fast food of those involved.

So, step off.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck……

 

[JosephZ]

It was on campus. She looked young enough to be a student but wasn’t carrying books and a student ID so I can’t be sure.
Funny how that works

I did a pretty extensive search and could only find one instance where a protester said, "We are all Hamas," but she was not on the Columbia University campus. I can't link to the videos or the articles because of the language, but here's a screenshot of one of the videos.

It would also contradict recent statements made by the NYPD and others if it had taken place on campus.

From a joint statement put out by Columbia University facualty members: "The student encampment was not violent and did not threaten violence."

"The students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner,” -- NYPD Chief John Chell

"You have all these individuals who are not Columbia students that are coming out in front of our gates in solidarity, and they are the ones that are doing the most threatening things... some people outside campus are flying the flags of terrorist groups such as Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah, and saying things like 'We are Hamas' and 'Go back to Poland.'" -- Parker De Deker, first-year Jewish student at Columbia

 

[Aaron112]

Why does anybody ever make this argument? You may as well just tell people that you want to believe what you want to believe and you don't care whether or not it's true.

I 'taut I saw a putty cat !

Almost verb ate em, this quoted post could be copied on everyone's name tag for everyone else to read every day.

 

[BPPLEE]

I did a pretty extensive search and could only find one instance where a protester said, "We are all Hamas," but she was not on the Columbia University campus. I can't link to the videos or the articles because of the language, but here's a screenshot of one of the videos.

View attachment 346476

It would also contradict recent statements made by the NYPD and others if it had taken place on campus.

From a joint statement put out by Columbia University facualty members: "The student encampment was not violent and did not threaten violence."

"The students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner,” -- NYPD Chief John Chell

"You have all these individuals who are not Columbia students that are coming out in front of our gates in solidarity, and they are the ones that are doing the most threatening things... some people outside campus are flying the flags of terrorist groups such as Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah, and saying things like 'We are Hamas' and 'Go back to Poland.'" -- Parker De Deker, first-year Jewish student at Columbia

How far was this from the campus?