Jewish Students Take Refuge in Library from Pro-Palestinian Protesters at Cooper Union
When loud cries of ”Free Palestine” were heard outside the library doors, Jewish students at Cooper Union began to feel nervous. Their concerns were shared by the librarians.
“The librarians ran up to us and said, ‘We tried to warn you. We received a warning that they were coming,'” said second-year student Taylor Lent. The library staff then barricaded the doors to prevent the protesters from entering.
According to Lent, the librarians also announced that they would help find safe places for the students if necessary. “At that moment, I realized that we were really not safe,” she told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
“It was tense. People were nervous. The protesters were acting aggressively, especially in the areas where students who appeared to be Jewish were sitting,” said one student to CBS News. “I really don’t know what would have happened if the doors had remained open,” said another.
The university stated that the library was closed for approximately 20 minutes late in the afternoon. The students decided to stay inside until the protest ended, and they were eventually escorted to safety by the police.
Several pro-Palestinian protesters told CBS News that they had planned to protest throughout the school and did not target any Jewish classmates. In an official statement, the students who participated in the demonstration claimed that their goal was to protest the institution itself.
“We, the students of Cooper Union, planned a peaceful protest to demand recognition of Israeli apartheid by our institutions. We responded to the school’s one-sided stance and its participation in the occupation of Palestine,” the protesters said. “When we arrived at the library, we were told it was closed, so we continued chanting in front of the library’s glass window. The library at that time had many different students of various backgrounds. We would like to clarify that our protest was not directed against individual students or faculty, but against the institution as a whole. We would like to reiterate that under no circumstances do we support anti-Semitism, and many participants in the protest were Jewish.”
The Jewish university students themselves organized a vigil for Israeli victims of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on the same day. They were confronted by pro-Palestinian protesters, many of whom were masked, shouting slogans such as “Resistance is justified when people are occupied” and “Zionism must go away.”
According to the New York Police Department, three officers were present at the school due to the planned protest. Before the group of twenty protesters headed towards the library, they chanted outside the office of Dean Laura Sparks. She stated that she did not feel in danger.
“This really pisses me off. We’ve been telling the school for two and a half weeks that this is an escalating situation,” criticized one student.
Since October 7, when Hamas began its rocket attacks on Israel, tensions have been high on American college campuses. Protests and counter-protests have taken place, with students expressing their support for either side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Jewish Students Take Refuge in Library from Pro-Palestinian Protesters at Cooper Union
When loud cries of “Free Palestine” were heard outside the library doors, Jewish students at Cooper Union began to feel nervous. Their concerns were shared by the librarians.
“The librarians ran up to us and said, ‘We tried to warn you. We received a warning that they were coming,'” said second-year student Taylor Lentova. The library staff then barricaded the doors to prevent the protesters from entering.
According to Lentova, the librarians also announced that they would help find safe places for the students if necessary. “At that moment, I realized that we were really not safe,” she told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
“It was tense. People were nervous. The protesters were acting aggressively, especially in the areas where students who appeared to be Jewish were sitting,” said one student to CBS News. “I really don’t know what would have happened if the doors had remained open,” said another.
The university stated that the library was closed for approximately 20 minutes late in the afternoon. The students decided to stay inside until the protest ended, and they were eventually escorted to safety by the police.
Several pro-Palestinian protesters told CBS News that they had planned to protest throughout the school and did not target any Jewish classmates. In an official statement, the students who participated in the demonstration claimed that their goal was to protest the institution itself.
“We, the students of Cooper Union, planned a peaceful protest to demand recognition of Israeli apartheid by our institutions. We responded to the school’s one-sided stance and its participation in the occupation of Palestine,” the protesters said. “When we arrived at the library, we were told it was closed, so we continued chanting in front of the library’s glass window. The library at that time had many different students of various backgrounds. We would like to clarify that our protest was not directed against individual students or faculty, but against the institution as a whole. We would like to reiterate that under no circumstances do we support anti-Semitism, and many participants in the protest were Jewish.”
The Jewish university students themselves organized a vigil for Israeli victims of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on the same day. They were confronted by pro-Palestinian protesters, many of whom were masked, shouting slogans such as “Resistance is justified when people are occupied” and “Zionism must go away.”
According to the New York Police Department, three officers were present at the school due to the planned protest. Before the group of twenty protesters headed towards the library, they chanted in front of Dean Laura Sparks’ office. She stated that she did not feel in danger.
“It really pisses me off. We’ve been telling the school for two and a half weeks that this is an escalating situation,” criticized one student.
Support for Palestine and condemnation of Israel has been heard among professors and students at American universities since October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel and Israel responded by shelling the Gaza Strip. The organization Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) declared October 12 as a “day of resistance” in support of Palestine on 200 college campuses across the United States. They referred to Hamas’ attack as a “historic victory for the Palestinian resistance movement.”
How did the presence of the Jewish university students organizing a vigil for Israeli victims of Hamas contribute to the escalation of tensions on the campus
Ponded to the school’s one-sided stance and its participation in the occupation of Palestine,” the protesters said. “When we arrived at the library, we were told it was closed, so we continued chanting in front of the library’s glass window. At that time, the library had many different students of various backgrounds. We would like to clarify that our protest was not directed against individual students or faculty, but against the institution as a whole. We would like to reiterate that under no circumstances do we support anti-Semitism, and many participants in the protest were Jewish.”
The Jewish university students themselves organized a vigil for Israeli victims of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on the same day. They were confronted by pro-Palestinian protesters, many of whom were masked, shouting slogans such as “Resistance is justified when people are occupied” and “Zionism must go away.”
According to the New York Police Department, three officers were present at the school due to the planned protest. Before the group of twenty protesters headed towards the library, they chanted outside the office of Dean Laura Sparks. She stated that she did not feel in danger.
“This really pisses me off. We’ve been telling the school for two and a half weeks that this is an escalating situation,” criticized one student.
Since October 7, when Hamas began its rocket attacks on Israel, tensions have been high on American college campuses. Protests and counter-protests have taken place, with students expressing their support for either side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
I stand in solidarity with the Jewish students seeking refuge and hope they find the support they need during this difficult time.