Holocaust survivor issues warning on anti-Israel protests: 'Can only end in tragedy'
Tova Friedman joins 'Fox & Friends' to share her story and voice her concerns for America, saying the ongoing demonstrations are 'utterly shocking.'
As anti-Israel agitators successfully held a days-long "encampment" at Columbia University in New York City, students at other elite schools across the United States began carrying out their own marches and sit-ins.
While some Democrats have attempted to describe these protests as "mostly peaceful," participants often repeat hateful and antisemitic chants that call for the death of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others who support Israel.
"We are Hamas!" the participants were heard shouting, referring to the terror group that launched the deadliest terror attack in Israel’s history. "Netanyahu, Netanyahu... you can't hide. We charge you with genocide." The same chant has been echoed with President Biden’s name.
The nationwide movement continues to gain momentum and has spread to other schools. Similar anti-Israel demonstrations have been witnessed at Columbia, Yale, MIT, UC Berkeley, University of Southern California, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Virginia and others.
For a week, anti-Israeli students occupied a central lawn on the Columbia University campus in New York City. "We are Hamas!" some of the students shouted. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
Participants at Columbia and other schools have been heard shouting:
"No more money for Israel's crimes."
"We will free Palestine within our lifetime."
"Say it loud and say it clear... liberation is here."
"Free, Free Palestine."
"From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever."
"Columbia, you will see, all our people will be free."
"It is right to rebel... NYPD can go to hell."
"It is right to rebel... Israel can go to hell."
"Intifada revolution...There is only one solution!"
The demonstrations at Columbia, seen as the epicenter of the current movement, became so tense that Columbia President Minouche Shafik alerted students that all in-person classes would be held virtually through the end of the semester.
Shafik and school officials are negotiating with the anti-Israel group to clear the campus and ensure members of the demonstration are actually Columbia students.
These students and those at other elite colleges have demanded their respective schools stop doing business with Israel or the U.S. Defense Department, which gives money to the Jewish country. The specific demands vary from campus to campus but generally include: the school stop doing business with military weapons manufacturers that are supplying arms to Israel, or stop investing college endowment funds with money managers who profit from Israeli companies or contractors.
Anti-Israeli activists protest outside Columbia University in New York City on April 20, 2024. Students there and at other elite colleges have demanded their respective schools stop doing business with Israel. (Leonardo Munoz/AFP via Getty Images)
Anti-Israeli students formed a "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" and participated in hateful chants after mass arrests by the New York Police Department on April 19, 2024. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman told "Fox & Friends" Tuesday that she was "scared" for America over the "hatred" spewed by such mobs.
"It's like a cancer. If you don't stop it early, it metastasizes. It's going to kill the body. It's killing our country," she told Fox News on Tuesday.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MOVES TO HYBRID LEARNING ON MAIN CAMPUS AMID ANTISEMITIC PROTESTS
She added: "When I came to America at 11 and a half, it's like I came to the Promised Land, and it was just a fabulous experience. And here it is today. I am shocked, I am pained, I'm scared. I'm scared both for America, I'm scared for the Jews, and it's very painful for our young people."
Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman told "Fox & Friends" Tuesday that she was "scared" for America over the "hatred" spewed by the mobs. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
Friedman also grimly predicted what demonstrations like this could become if school administrators allow them to grow.
"If this isn't contained, if they don't think about it, what is going to be the end product? What is the end product of any hatred and prejudice? It is death to somebody. It could be death to themselves, death to their opponents. Because we didn't stop Hitler like we had a chance during Kristallnacht. We could have stopped it, but nobody did. So I ended up in Auschwitz, and a million and a half of Jewish children were gassed," she said.
"That type of behavior and anger and hatred can only end up in tragedy," she said. "Tragedy for everybody. Not only tragedy for the Jews, God forbid tragedy for themselves, because it's going to be a terrible clash. We have to find a way to stop it."
Franklin Graham, the Christian evangelist and son of the late Billy Graham, echoed those same sentiments on social media.
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"I agree," he wrote in a post on Facebook. "When Tova walked out of Auschwitz as a little girl, she thought she would never experience the hate of antisemitism like that again. But here it is, right in our faces. The world needs to wake up to the dangers of this rancid hate. Tova is right – it’s like a cancer, if you don’t stop it early, it’s going to kill."
During the ongoing negotiations late Tuesday evening with Columbia administrators, students said they would stop using hateful language in their chants. The students are protesting Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza, which has reportedly left tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians dead.
Fox News’ Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
