'Common Sense': Do anti-Israel protesters know what they're protesting?
'Common Sense' Department – NYU students protesting in support of Palestine were asked what their main goal is…that answer may just surprise you.
Students at elite college campuses across the U.S. are forming "Gaza Solidarity" encampments and are participating in marches to call on their respective schools to stop supporting Israel.
But, some of these protests have become unruly and have taken a turn toward hate and antisemitism.
At Columbia University in New York, protesters shouted, "We are Hamas" and "Go back to Poland." And, on Thursday, a protester at Princeton reportedly held up a Hezbollah terror flag.
"Disgraceful," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a post on X, sharing a photo of the protester with the terror group's yellow flag and green insignia.
IRAN PICKS SIDES AS ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS RAGE ACROSS US UNIVERSITIES: 'DEEPLY WORRIED AND DISGUSTED'
An aerial shot of anti-Israeli protesters at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, on Thursday morning. (WTXF)
The U.S. State Department officially designates Hezbollah a foreign terrorist organization.
The Hezbollah flag was spotted at the encampment at approximately 5:16 p.m. Thursday, according to The Daily Princetonian. Organizers then promptly asked it be put away.
The photo of the flag was initially shared by an X account belonging to Myles McKnight, an 2023 alum who also served as president of an undergraduate student organization dedicated to promoting free speech, per the publication.
Hezbollah primarily operates out of southern Lebanon, where it has regularly attacked Israel since the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel ignited a war in the region. Hezbollah, seeking to capitalize on the fighting between Israel and Hamas, has launched various missile attacks from across Israel’s northern border against its mutual enemy, Israel.
The U.S. State Department officially designates Hezbollah a foreign terrorist organization. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images)
Hezbollah has also carried out strikes from neighboring Syria, which has prompted criticism and retaliation from Israel.
On Thursday, university police arrested two people at Princeton, a spokesperson tells Fox News Digital.
The protests began as a sit-in on McCosh Courtyard and then some began erecting tents, which is a violation of school policy, according to the university spokesperson. Princeton University Public Safety, the Ivy League school’s police force, gave demonstrators several warnings before acting, the university says.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called the flag's presence "disgraceful." (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
All tents were then voluntarily taken down by protesters, the New Jersey university said.
Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber wrote an op-ed in the student newspaper that any protesters must abide by strict rules.
"That guarantee extends to protests and demonstrations, provided they do not involve genuine threats, harassment, or conduct that impedes the right of others to be heard, violates the law, or disrupts essential operations," Eisgruber wrote.
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He added: "Some types of protest actions (including occupying or blocking access to buildings, establishing outdoor encampments and sleeping in any campus outdoor space) are inherently unsafe for both those involved and for bystanders, and they increase the potential for escalation and confrontation."
"Any individual involved in an encampment, occupation, or other unlawful disruptive conduct who refuses to stop after a warning will be arrested and immediately barred from campus," Eisgruber concluded.
Fox News' Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
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