In recent days, the pro-Hamas gatherings at university campuses across the country have grown more violent and more brazen with their anti-Semitic rhetoric; causing Jewish students to feel unsafe and universities to advise them to stay away as they shift to virtual learning.
But despite all the videos of these incidents, the Tuesday edition of NBC’s Today (via correspondent Erin McLaughlin) worked hard in an apparent attempt to discredit the Jewish students who were trying to get the world’s attention and expose the far-left.
At the top of her report, McLaughlin lamented that police were cracking down on violent pro-Hamas riots. “Overnight, a tense scene at New York University after pro-Palestinian protesters were forced to leave a campus plaza. NYPD moving in with riot gear, police breaking down encampments as a sea of protesters marched through the city streets,” she mourned.
McLaughlin actively tried to discredit the accounts of Jewish students who witnessed the crowds chant anti-Semitic slogans, and were assaulted and chased from pro-Israel protests:
MCLAUGHLIN: Students like Andrew Stein who said he was on campus late Saturday night for a pro-Israel counter-protest, but left terrified by an angry mob.
ANDREW STEIN: They started say in Arabic: “Hamas, Hamas our beloved please bomb Tel Aviv.”
MCLAUGHLIN: Stein says this video shows him being followed off campus.
STEIN: Me and my friend had water poured – physically poured in our face.
MCLAUGHLIN: At the pro-Palestinian encampment in the heart of the university, heated confrontations.
UNNAMED FEMALE STUDENT: “Go back to Poland” is not anti-Zionism, it’s anti-Semitism and that’s what was said.
She tried to contradict them with claims from the pro-Hamas side who, as she put it, “say they have no knowledge any antisemitism on campus Saturday night.”
“Anyone who makes any thread to any Jewish student, we oppose you, we do not associate with you,” a pro-Hamas student told her. It was the same student who was confronted about the “go back to Poland” chant in the block quote above (included in the embedded video).
While McLaughlin wanted to suggest there was no evidence of the antisemitism, over on CBS Mornings, correspondent Meg Oliver showed a video of the “go back to Poland” chant. “Like near Columbia University where some demonstrators chanted anti-Semitic slogans. In one video, a protester can be seen holding a sign near Jewish students that reads ‘Al-Qasam’s [sic] next targets.’ A-Qassam is Hamas’s military arm,” she added.
“Columbia announced that, to ensure safety, most classes on its main campus will be hybrid for the rest of the semester. It has also more than doubled security after a recent series of anti-Semitic incidents,” Oliver reported.
While McLaughlin was trying to discredit and ignore the violence and anti-Semitic incidents caught on camera, she was more concerned about Islamophobia: “Meanwhile at Rutgers University on Monday, a 24-year-old man was charged with a federal hate crime for allegedly breaking into that university's Islamic center during the Eid celebrations earlier in the month.”
“Many are left wondering if this will continue to spread,” she feared.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
NBC’s Today
April 23, 2024
7:04:16 a.m. Eastern(…)
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN: Overnight, a tense scene at New York University after pro-Palestinian protesters were forced to leave a campus plaza. NYPD moving in with riot gear, police breaking down encampments as a sea of protesters marched through the city streets.
It comes as tensions flair at Columbia University, now entering its seventh-consecutive day of pro-Palestinian protests; with the school announcing main campus classes will be hybrid until the end of the semester, stating “safety is our highest priority” after the university president's call to “de-escalate the rancor.”
A massive NYPD presence was around the campus as a growing number of Jewish students report feeling unsafe. Students like Andrew Stein who said he was on campus late Saturday night for a pro-Israel counter protest, but left terrified by an angry mob.
ANDREW STEIN: They started say in Arabic: “Hamas, Hamas our beloved please bomb Tel Aviv.”
MCLAUGHLIN: Stein says this video shows him being followed off campus.
STEIN: Me and my friend had water poured – physically poured in our face.
MCLAUGHLIN: At the pro-Palestinian encampment in the heart of the university, heated confrontations.
UNNAMED FEMALE STUDENT: “Go back to Poland” is not anti-Zionism, it’s anti-Semitism and that’s what was said.
MCLAUGHLIN: The pro-Palestinian students we spoke to say they have no knowledge any antisemitism on campus Saturday night.
SHERIF (Columbia University Student): Anyone who makes any thread to any Jewish student, we oppose you, we do not associate with you.
MCLAUGHLIN: Patriots owner and Jewish alum Robert Kraft, a major donor, announcing he is pulling his support until corrective action is taken.
(…)
7:06:26 a.m. Eastern
MCLAUGHLIN: Meanwhile at Rutgers University on Monday, a 24-year-old man was charged with a federal hate crime for allegedly breaking into that university's Islamic center during the Eid celebrations earlier in the month. Many are left wondering if this will continue to spread.
CBS Mornings
April 23, 2024
7:08:05 a.m. Eastern(…)
MEG OLIVER: The mood on campus is tense. Columbia announced that, to ensure safety, most classes on its main campus will be hybrid for the rest of the semester. It has also more than doubled security after a recent series of anti-Semitic incidents.
But on many campuses, police trying to contain the demonstrations have been met with resistance.
[Cuts to video]
[Video of pro-Hama rioters beating police]
A chaotic scene at Cal Ploy Humboldt in northern California as police in riot gear clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters. And at New York University last night, the NYPD broke up a pro-Palestinian encampment.
The demonstrations have spread to campuses across the country with Palestinian supporters angry over Israel's war in Gaza and many Jewish students expressing fear after incidents of anti-Semitism.
[Video of pro-Hamas man yelling “Go back to Poland”]
Like near Columbia University where some demonstrators chanted anti-Semitic slogans. In one video, a protester can be seen holding a sign near Jewish students that reads “Al-Qasam’s [sic] next targets.” A-Qassam is Hamas’s military arm.
UNNAMED JEWISH STUDENT: Jewish students are petrified to go onto campus.
(…)
