- An unidentified man was caught on camera ripping the word ‘Jewish’ off his sign and spitting on it
- He was outside NYU on Thursday, but is not known to be affiliated with the university
- Police appeared to keep him away from the main student protest
A masked anti-Israel protester was caught on video spitting on a banner with the word “Jewish” outside the NYU library on Thursday.
The incident occurred during a meeting calling on the university to scrap its study abroad program in Israel due to the strikes in Gaza. However, it is not clear if the man has ties to NYU and police kept him away from the main protest.
The video was shared by StopAntisemitism on
“This is nothing less than the horrific Nazi-style rhetoric of 1933 Germany.”
One photo showed the protester being kept away from the main protest by police officers
The man spat on the plate on the ground before raising his fist and walking away
The man, wearing a black balaclava and leather gloves with a large silver cross dangling from his neck, carried a huge sign reading “Jewish White Supremacy.”
In the video, he rips the word “Jewish” off the sign, throws it on the ground and spits on it.
An audience member called him a “coward” and told him to “take the mask off,” at which point he pulled down the mask and spat on the board a second time.
Someone shouted: ‘Do it with me, I’m Jewish.’
Another person shouted: ‘You’re ruining their protest by doing this.’
One said: ‘Your own mother is ashamed of you. Your ancestors are ashamed of you.’
The man then raised his fist in the air and someone said, “You’re a neo-Nazi, you need to stop it.”
He then picked up his plate and left. He is not believed to be affiliated with NYU.
The man tore the word Jewish off his sign and spat on it – the police kept him away from the rest of the protest.
The main student protest saw about 100 students and faculty gather to call on NYU to end its study abroad program in Tel Aviv and divest companies that support Israel’s war effort.
Some demonstrators carried signs reading “Close NYU Tel Aviv,” chanting “Shut down sites where students are banned, Tel Aviv is stolen land.”
About two dozen counter-protesters gathered on the sidelines, waving Israeli flags and holding up posters with the faces of Israeli hostages.
NYU spokesman John Beckman told the independent student newspaper Washington Square News that the university has no plans to close its study program in Israel.
He said: “As for the protesters’ demands that NYU close the NYU Tel Aviv site – the university rejects these demands. NYU is fully committed to the continued presence of the NYU Tel Aviv Program, and the University believes that calls for academic boycotts are contrary to the fundamental principles of academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas.”