Protesters chant 'Israel will fall!' at NY Union Square rally as nationwide demonstrations continue
Police in riot gear cleared an anti-Israel encampment at the University of Chicago after a final notice was delivered to protesters. Columbia University has canceled its commencement ceremony amid the unrest, and anti-Israel riots have spread to Europe at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Coverage for this event has ended.
Police clearing anti-Israel encampment at George Washington University, at least 35 arrested
The Metropolitan Police Department is on the campus of George Washington University early Wednesday morning to clear the anti-Israel encampment, hours before D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is set to testify in front of the House about the handling of the protests at the school.
Dozens of officers could be seen near the encampment on University Yard as protesters, some with megaphones and speakers, confronted them with chants like "the people have all the power!" and "the people united will never be defeated!"
Video footage from affiliate FOX 5 DC showed officers knocking down tents in the encampment and making the agitators leave the area. About an hour into the encampment being cleared, a confrontation between police and protesters resulted in law enforcement deploying pepper spray in the protesters' direction.
Hours before, officers were guarding the home of GWU President Ellen Granberg after a large group of protesters walked to her home and began chanting phrases suggesting she is scared to meet with them to discuss negotiations. Video on social media showed them carry a folding table to her home while demanding she "come to the table."
Granberg, on Sunday, released a long statement describing the encampment as "an unauthorized protest" in defiance of what free speech at the university allows for.
"What is currently happening at GW is not a peaceful protest protected by the First Amendment or our university’s policies. The demonstration, like many around the country, has grown into what can only be classified as an illegal and potentially dangerous occupation of GW property," she wrote.
She said in the past five days, protesters have overrun barriers erected to protect the community, vandalized a GWU statue and flag, surrounded and intimidated other students with "antisemitic images and hateful rhetoric," chased people out of University Yard based on their perceived beliefs, and ignored, degraded and pushed campus police officers and university maintenance staff.
"Conventional protests that abide by municipal law and university policy should and do receive protection and respect, no matter the message's viewpoint. As I have outlined, this is not what is happening at GW," Granberg wrote.
At least 35 protesters have been arrested as of Wednesday morning, Fox News confirmed, and eight students have been suspended so far.
'Long Live the Student Intifada' displayed on American flag at George Washington University
As anti-Israel protesters at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., were awaiting the Metropolitan Police Department to come in and take down their encampment, they projected "Long Live the Student Intifada" on a giant American flag on campus.
Other phrases were projected onto the flag, such as a picture of President Biden with the words "Genocide Joe," an Arabic phrase with "Revolution Until Victory" below it in English and "you put the flag up backwards you f---ing idiots."
Posts on the DMV SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) Coalition X page showed a crowd of people below the flag staring at it and its various projections. Some were waving Palestinian flags.
Officers moved in shortly after 3 a.m. local time to begin breaking down the encampment, which has been set up on GWU's University Yard for over a week illegally.
Protesters reportedly arrested at UMass Amherst after large police presence
Video shows anti-Israel protesters getting arrested after resisting a large police presence on the University of Massachusetts at Amherst campus Wednesday morning after a protest that began Tuesday evening.
"Arrests reported at UMass Amherst as police detain students amid an pro-Palestinian encampment protest," the tweet read. "Video footage captures tense moments as a possible student activist attempts to intervene, leading to his own arrest."
Another report by the UMA SJP states that more than 100 had been arrested on the campus, but that hasn't been confirmed.
A large police presence on campus was also reportedly broadcast on X.
NYPD arrests 20 protesters at Fashion Institute of Technology: report
NYPD has reportedly arrested around 20 protesters at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) on Tuesday night.
It's the latest encampment of anti-Israel protesters in New York City to have been detained.
"20 students at FIT have been arrested by the NYPD SRG for participating in a Gaza Solidarity Encampment protest calling on their university to divest from death," Talia Jane tweeted.
"Press has been moved away from the camp, but not allowed to leave the barricades around it."
NYPD says it would not have dismantled the encampment without the request or approval of FIT. All night protestors chanted ‘FIT go to hell’ and again chanted to cops “oink oink piggy piggy we will make your life sh*tty.”
Fox News correspondent Matthew Finn contributed to this report.
John Fetterman says anti-Israel protesters are ‘working against peace’ in Gaza
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman on Tuesday said he believes the anti-Israel protests that have swept U.S. campuses are actually “working against peace” in Gaza.
"I'm not even sure what they're really, you know, protesting about,” the Pennsylvania senator told Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report.” If you ask them, they're not really sure. They can't... and now they're not talking about cease-fires anymore, and now they're talking about divesting and harming Israel and that. It's crazy."
Fetterman highlighted a group of anti-Israel protesters demonstrating outside an Auschwitz Holocaust Remembrance Day event, saying it was "tasteless" and "disgusting."
"It's actually working against peace in Gaza, and Hamas is convinced that they've won the PR war and they keep seeing all these kinds of protests across the nation on these campuses,” he added. “And it's not helpful, but it's actually… it works against peace, I think.”
Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams offering $5,000 of own money to catch vandals who defaced WWI memorial
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is now offering $5,000 of his own money to catch vandals who defaced a World War I memorial in Manhattan on Monday.
The 107th United States Infantry monument, located along Central Park on the Upper East Side, depicts seven U.S. Army soldiers in the throes of battle in September 1918, as they burst through the Hindenburg Line — the last and strongest of the German army's defense. As anti-Israel protests were underway in the area near Hunter College and the star-studded Met Gala, demonstrators placed pro-Palestinian stickers on the memorial, spray-painted "Free Gaza" and burned the American flag at the site.
"We're going to treat this crime with the seriousness that it deserves," Adams said Tuesday in front of the monument. "I will not stand by while people desecrate memorials for those who fought for democracy and human rights. The right rights that they (pro-Palestinian groups) are calling for."
NYPD Crime Stoppers is offering another $10,000 as a reward.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Protesters shout 'Israel will fall' amid massive Union Square demonstration in Manhattan
Hundreds of protesters descended upon Manhattan’s Union Square Tuesday evening, where some demonstrators could be heard shouting chants like “brick by brick, wall by wall, Israel will fall!”
“There is only one solution, intifada revolution!” the same group of protesters chanted along with “Long live the intifada!”
The massive protest appeared to be mostly peaceful, although the NYPD could be seen making some arrests.
Union Square is around five miles from Columbia University where anti-Israel protests have continued for weeks and where the NYPD was forced to clear an illegally occupied building last week.
3 arrested after driver strikes anti-Israel protester in Manhattan following argument: NYPD
Police have arrested three people after an argument between two protesters and a driver, 57, escalated into a protester being struck by the driver’s vehicle in Manhattan, the NYPD confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The argument started just before 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday in the 700 block of Park Avenue around three miles from Columbia University.
The driver’s vehicle was allegedly damaged by the protesters after the driver hit a demonstrator -- a 55-year-old woman who was hospitalized with minor injuries. Around two dozen demonstrators were marching at the time.
Police are not yet releasing the names of those arrested. Charges are pending.
A witness at the scene told Fox News Digital that the driver grabbed one of the protesters’ arms after asking for a flyer while the demonstrators were marching from one of the university trustees’ homes.
The witness claimed the driver circled the block after the argument, then veered toward the sidewalk and drove into the group, hitting the 55-year-old.
The incident comes as anti-Israel protests continue at Columbia and days after the NYPD emptied a campus building that had been occupied and damaged by agitators.
Harvard faculty send letter to school president urging dialogue with protesters occupying Yard
More than 300 Harvard faculty members sent a letter to interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber on Tuesday urging “constructive dialogue” with the “peaceful protesters” who have occupied Harvard Yard.
The letter comes a day after Garber sent a public email warning that protesters who didn’t leave the Yard could face an involuntary leave of absence.
The faculty letter to Garber said they agreed with his statement that “disagreements are most effectively addressed through candid, constructive dialogue. We are concerned that the university has yet to meet with the students to hear their concerns. Instead, the administration has issued escalating threats of punitive disciplinary action, the severity of which the university has not seen in decades. We urge the administration to meet and engage in meaningful dialogue with peacefully protesting students.”
The unsanctioned group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, who are occupying the Yard, gave school administrators until Monday evening to begin negotiating with student protest leaders, but did not receive a response.
Those in the encampment are asking Harvard for disclosure of investments, divestment from Israel, and amnesty for protesters.
Harvard University student Alex Bernat told Fox News Digital these were "asinine demands," considering Harvard does not divest from any other country and protesters are in violation of time, place and manner restrictions.
NYPD searching for suspects after General Sherman statue in Central Park vandalized
Police in New York City said they were searching for three suspects after a statue of General Sherman in Central Park was vandalized Monday night.
The vandals allegedly spray painted the statue of the general who served with the Union during the Civil War.
The NYPD shared surveillance images of the suspects who wore black with at least two of them wearing white scarves over their heads and white face masks.
Police said the alleged vandals fled in an unknown direction around 8:30 p.m. ET.
The incident comes as anti-Israel protesters on campuses across the country have defaced statues, including a George Washington statue at his namesake university and the University of Southern California's Tommy Trojan.
Demonstrators at George Washington University call for ‘guillotine’ for school administrators
Anti-Israel demonstrators at a George Washington University encampment called for the 'guillotine' for school administrators, a video posted to social media recently showed.
"Guillotine, Guillotine, Guillotine, Guillotine" a person with a bull horn could be heard chanting as other demonstrators joined in.
"Bracey, Bracey, we see you. You assault students too. Off to the mother------" gallows with you,” the protesters chanted, referring to Provost Christopher Bracey in what appeared to be a mock trial with other protesters playing the parts of the administration.
The board of trustees was also found "guilty" of “having a vested interest in the genocide of the Palestinian people” in the mock trial.
The school told Fox News Digital in a statement: "Ensuring the safety and security of all individuals on our campus remains our highest priority. Any threat, whether perceived or explicit, is treated seriously and referred to appropriate law enforcement authorities."
Protesters, who erected tents and displayed Palestinian flags at their encampment, have remained on campus for nearly two weeks.
They also defaced a statue of George Washington last week.
Fox News' Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
Israeli, American flag display vandalized at Harvard University
A display of over one thousand Israeli and American flags was destroyed over the weekend at Harvard University.
The flags were planted by the local chapter of the Young America's Foundation to honor the victims of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that sparked the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish student who helped plant the flags with YAF, said he found the display vandalized coming home from a Sabbath service.
"We had almost all of our Israeli flags and our American flags either thrown all over the campus, thrown in the garbage, or ripped," Kestenbaum said in a video showing the damaged flags. "All of our hostage posters were of course ripped and destroyed, so we’re gonna get new ones."
YAF posted photos and videos of the damage on social media. The group plans to fix the memorial.
"These flags represent the Americans and Israelis who’ve been held hostage since October 7th," YAF President Gov. Scott Walker said in a statement following the vandalism. "The radicals who vandalized this display don’t care about them. They are wrong. So wrong."
Students at an encampment on the Harvard campus are facing threats of severe disciplinary action by the university administration.
Harvard President Alan Garber has announced that students involved in the unsanctioned group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP) could face involuntary leave if their protest continues, according to the Harvard Crimson.
HOOP gave school administrators until Monday evening to begin negotiating with student protest leaders, but did not receive a response.
Fox News Digital's Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this update.
Biden, at Holocaust remembrance ceremony, says hatred against Jews brought to life by Hamas attack
President Biden said Tuesday that the hatred of Jews "continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world" while delivering the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's annual Days of Remembrance ceremony.
The president spoke in Washington, D.C. as anti-Israel protests have been disrupting college campuses around the country.
Biden said the violent attacks and property destruction that is happening on some American college campuses is "not peaceful protest.
"It's against the law. And we are not a lawless country. We're a civil society. We uphold the rule of law. And no one should have to hide or be brave just to be themselves," the president said.
"To the Jewish community, I want you to know I see your fear, your hurt and your pain. Let me reassure you as your president, you're not alone. You belong," Biden continued. "You always have. And you always will. And my commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad. Even when we disagree."
He concluded his speech by calling for Americans to "rise against hate."
Fox News Digital's Greg Norman contributed to this update.
Republican says UNC professors who withhold grades to help anti-Israel rebels should be fired
Rep. Richard Hudson, R-NC, said professors who withhold students' grades in a show of support for anti-Israel rioters should be "immediately" terminated.
The comment came after professors at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reportedly organized a protest where they would withhold the final grades of all students unless the university reinstates students they claim were suspended during an anti-Israel demonstration last week.
"UNC professors should be protecting students who are targets of antisemitism and violence," Hudson tweeted on X. "They should not be protecting the bigots and antisemites. Fire any faculty or staff participating in withholding grades immediately."
The UNC-Chapel Hill sent a letter cautioning professors and faculty members against withholding students’ final grades on Tuesday.
The academic anarchy comes after anti-Israel demonstrations sprang up on the campus last week. These agitators ripped down an American flag on the campus and replaced its patriotic red, white and blue with the Palestinian flag, flying the red, green and white high over the campus.
To restore order, university administrators took action and ordered police to clear the encampment. The students who participated in the unrest were forced to clear the area and some faced disciplinary action.
Fox News Digital's Lawrence Richard contributed to this update.
President Biden says he has 'not forgotten' Hamas atrocities, condemns US antisemitism
President Biden on Tuesday said he has not forgotten about the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists against Israel on Oct. 7 and condemned antisemitic protests on college campuses.
In remarks at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony, Biden recounted the rapes, tortures and murders committed by Hamas and lamented that some people appear to have already forgotten Hamas' crimes seven short months after the attack.
"I have not forgotten, nor have you," Biden told his audience. "And we will not forget. And as Jews around the world still cope with the atrocities and trauma of that day and it's aftermath, we've seen a ferocious surge of antisemitism in America and around the world."
Biden said too many people have denied, downplayed rationalized and ignored the horrors of the Holocaust., as well as Oct. 7, "including Hamas' appalling use of sexual violence to torture and terrorized youth."
"It's absolutely despicable. And it must stop."
Speaker Johnson says college campuses have 'succumbed to an antisemitic virus'
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony Tuesday in the Capitol, where he condemned the ongoing anti-Israel protests on U.S. college campuses.
Johnson said that American colleges and universities are "quickly becoming hostile places for Jewish students and faculty."
"The very campuses which were once the envy of the international academy have succumbed to an antisemitic virus. Students who were known for producing academic papers are now known for stabbing their Jewish peers in the eyes with Palestinian flags. Faculty who once produced cutting edge research are now linking arms with pro-Hamas protesters and calling for a global intifada. Administrators who were once lauded by their peers for leadership are now barring Jewish faculty and choosing not to protect their Jewish students," Johnson said.
"And these Jewish students are physically threatened when they walked on campuses. Their peers hold posters repeating the Nazi propaganda in the program: the final solution. Now is a time for moral clarity, and we must put an end to this madness."
Hims & Hers CEO walks back praise for anti-Israel protesters after stock drops
Hims & Hers founder and CEO Andrew Dudum said Sunday that his previous comments offering support for anti-Israel protesters on college campuses were "misconstrued by some" after the company's stock dipped.
In a thread on X, Dudum said he wished to clarify his earlier comments and said he does not support violence, antisemitism or intimidation.
"The last few days have been a disheartening reflection of just how divisive a time we live in," Dudum began. "I'd like to clarify a few things because my words have been misconstrued by some."
"I, in no way condone nor support acts or threats of violence, antisemitism, or intimidation and there is absolutely no justification for violence on our campuses," he continued. "Every student deserves to feel safe without fear of harm or being targeted for who they are. I am deeply saddened that my support for peaceful protest has been interpreted by some as encouraging violence, intimidation, or bigotry of any kind."
This comes after Dudum, whose company provides telehealth services and prescription medication for issues such as hair loss, erectile dysfunction and skin problems, said Wednesday that demonstrators' future employment is not as important as standing up for the cause they believe in.
"Moral courage > College degree If you're currently protesting against the genocide of the Palestinian people & for your university's divestment from Israel, keep going," Dudum wrote on X. "It's working. There are plenty of companies & CEOs eager to hire you, regardless of university discipline."
Dudum, a Palestinian-American, also provided a link for protesters to apply for a job at his company.
Billionaire Columbia alum Leon Cooperman says protests are 'organized anarchy'
Billionaire Columbia University graduate and CEO Leon Cooperman is doubling down on previous comments he made blasting the anti-Israel protests that have taken place at his alma mater and other colleges, and says the situation has now escalated into "organized anarchy."
Cooperman told "The Claman Countdown" host Liz Claman in October following the initial demonstrations that began after Israel was attacked by Hamas terrorists, "These kids at the colleges have s--- for brains," and he repeated that refrain during another appearance on the show Monday.
The investor said his wife of 59 years had been critical of him for saying what he did about the demonstrators back in the fall, before declaring, "I would repeat that — it's worse, now. You know, this is organized anarchy, organized anarchy. Anarchy is a state of disorder, a refusal to recognize authority. These kids don't get it."
The Columbia business school alum and megadonor also told Claman in October that he had donated somewhere around $50 million to the university over the years, but that he was suspending his giving at the time. On Monday, he said he would "modify that a little bit" and that he was not ending his donations to the school.
"In the past I gave money without direction to the university, and my understanding was the university took a percentage of what you gave to the business school as a tax, and I specify all my future giving will be directly to the business school and no tax," Cooperman said. "I think that they recognize the problem now, and it's their responsibility to make the campus safe for all students, to eliminate hate and bigotry against all groups — not just Israelis, not just Jews."
Cooperman said the demonstrators fall into a couple of groups, one being students, and the other being "professional demonstrators that are wearing masks and doing crazy things."
He said it appears Columbia's administrators are finally addressing the issue.
"I think in the end, it's better late than never," he told Claman. "I think the administration at Columbia recognize the problem now and they're doing what has to be done."
Fox Business' Breck Dumas contributed to this update.
Columbia canceling graduation ceremony shows 'inmates are running the asylum': students
Several Columbia University students spoke out to Fox News Digital on Monday after administrators announced they would be canceling the school's main commencement ceremony. Security concerns in the wake of raucous anti-Israel protests were top of mind in making the decision, a university official told Fox News.
One graduating senior, who also testified before the House Education & Workforce Committee about the antisemitic agitators, said she did so in order to give voice to those in the community who all have the same concerns as well as a way to urge Columbia administrators to act.
"I think that [Columbia] has the potential to be the amazing institution that I know that it is," Yola Ashkenazie told Fox News Digital.
Ashkenazie said she was disappointed that the main commencement ceremony was canceled, saying graduation festivities are as much for the students as they are for the parents and families who work hard to ensure their children can attend a venerated institution like Columbia.
"So, it's really sad that we don't get to properly mark this moment with them and with all of our friends across all the different schools," she said.
Ashkenazie said administrators had at first acted like the anti-Israel protests were peaceful demonstrations, but she added that if that were true, she still would be attending graduation.
"[W]hy would they cancel commencement if they thought that they were entirely peaceful? It doesn't really make sense. And the administration can't keep their story straight."
Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz contributed to this update.
NYPD vows 'consequences' for anti-Israel agitators who defaced WWI monument: 'Will not be tolerated'
The New York Police Department strongly condemned the vandalism of a World War One memorial by anti-Israel agitators who marched on the Met Gala Monday night.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Operations Kaz Daughtry called the desecration "unacceptable behavior that will not be tolerated."
"I want to assure you that the NYPD, backed by our finest detectives, is actively investigating this heinous crime. We will leave no stone unturned until the perpetrators are brought to justice," Daughtry said.
"Vandalizing a memorial, a symbol of remembrance and honor, is not only an act of criminal mischief but also a disrespect to the sacrifices of those who served our country," he continued.
"The NYPD is known for its exceptional investigative abilities, and this case will be no exception. We are committed to upholding the law and ensuring that justice prevails. Let this serve as a warning to anyone who dares to deface our city's landmarks – there will be consequences."