A Jewish Columbia University graduate whose 21-year-old cousin is among the hostages in Gaza has blasted ‘hostile’ student pro-Palestine camps as ‘hurtful’ as she prepares her own protest at the college gates this morning.
Leat Corrine Unger, 37, who studied speech language pathology at the Ivy League and now lives with her family in Bergen County, New Jersey, has not heard from her cousin Omer Shem Tov since he was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
Omer’s family last heard his voice during a panicked call from the Nova music festival as the sounds of rockets rang out overhead. They tracked his phone which showed him traveling closer to the Gaza border until the device cut out.
Later that night, they identified Omer, who had been working as a waiter to save money for traveling Europe, through his tattoos in videos of hostages in the back of a van which was posted online.
Since then, Omer’s immediate family, who live in Hertzliya, Israel, along with his relatives scattered across the US in New York, New Jersey and Florida, have been spending every waking hour striving to secure his return.
Leat Corrine Unger (pictured), a Jewish Columbia University graduate whose 21-year-old cousin is among the hostages in Gaza has blasted ‘hostile’ student pro-Palestine camps as ‘hurtful’ as she prepares her own protest at the college gates this morning
New Jersey resident Leat has not heard from her cousin Omer Shem Tov (pictured) since he was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7
The night before her brave protest at Columbia, Leat told DailyMail.com the college’s ‘Gaza plaza’ encampment is painful for her as both a relative of a Hamas hostage and an alumnus who still takes part in humanitarian missions with the college.
Leat said that while she supports free speech and a ceasefire in Palestine once the remaining hostages are returned, the ‘never-ending nightmare’ faced by families like hers who still feel like ‘every day is October 2023’ is being callously overlooked.
‘Honestly it’s triggering for me personally because if the students only understood what they are standing for – they are supporting this ideology which supports terror of innocent people,’ she said.
Leat said she studied at Columbia because of its mission statement, which is ‘to attract a diverse and international faculty, staff, and student body’ and ‘support teaching on global issues’, but she feels bitterly let down by her Alma Mater.
Amid the vitriol coming from some of the pro-Palestine demos on campus, Leat wanted to return to see for herself what was happening at her old university and call for the release of the ‘133 innocents’ still being held in Gaza.
She said graduates are ordinarily able to request a renewed ID card so that they can use some of the campus facilities – but she was turned down last week by university staff.
They told her that they were barring access to anyone without a current ID card, as part of a safety crackdown as the Palestine camp on the college lawns continues to sprawl.
‘Apart from the fact that I’m shocked at the displays of what’s going on, the fact that I called to go and have my ID renewed and I can’t even get on to campus right now, those things were personally very hurtful,’ Leat told DailyMail.com.
Omer Shem Tov, 21, (pictured) is believed to be still in Gaza. He was described by his cousin as ‘funny’ and ‘the sunshine, the light in every room’
Leat will be speaking outside the main gates to Columbia at a protest for the hostages on Friday
The night before her brave protest at Columbia, Leat told DailyMail.com the college’s ‘Gaza plaza’ encampment is painful for her as both a relative of a Hamas hostage and an alumnus who still takes part in humanitarian missions with the college
Leat said that while she supports free speech and a ceasefire in Palestine once the remaining hostages are returned, the ‘never-ending nightmare’ faced by families like hers who still feel like ‘every day is October 2023’ is being callously overlooked
Leat will be speaking at a protest just outside the university’s main gates on the Upper West Side on Friday morning, where ugly clashes between pro-Palestine demonstrators and people passing by broke out earlier this week
‘It does hit close to home because I, as a Columbia University alumnus who has been doing humanitarian sustainable missions along with and through the university,’ she said, adding her last mission was in 2023 with the college and charity Smile Train.
‘I deserve to be on that campus just as much as anyone else and now I’m not allowed on campus,’ Leat said.
‘Just hearing all this dialogue – yes everyone is allowed to take a stand, but seeing the violence and hostilities, and people who are saying ‘ceasefire, ceasefire’ – well, you’re being hostile and you’re not even mentioning the hostages.’
Leat will be speaking at a protest just outside the university’s main gates on the Upper West Side on Friday morning, where ugly clashes between pro-Palestine demonstrators and people passing by broke out earlier this week.
She said that ‘world leaders are failing us’ and she hopes the protest will compel those in power to act with more urgency to save her cousin.
‘On average every six and a half days we lose one of our hostages – they are no longer alive, they are murdered – so every minute counts,’ she said.
Two of Omer’s friends who were with him at Nova music festival – Itay and Mia Regev – were among the hostages released by Hamas during the temporary ceasefire brokered in November last year.
‘That was over 150 days ago,’ Leat told DailyMail.com. ‘Itay shared information about Omer’s well-being to his mother, and she said afterwards that it felt like she was almost touching Omer again.’
Pictured: Omer’s mother Shelly Shem Tov at a rally for the Israeli hostages
Pictured: civilians flee the terror attack near Kibbutz Urim in southern Israel on October 7
Omer was snatched by Hamas militants who invaded the Nova music festival in Israel on October 7, 2023 (Pictured: Palestinians ride an Israeli military jeep Gaza on October 7)
Leat described her cousin as ‘the sunshine, the light in every room’ who has an infectious sense of humor and lifts the spirits of those around him.
She said Itay had told his family that he’d even ‘brought hope into the darkness of Gaza tunnels in captivity’ and that his religion had been his ‘source of strength’.
‘Itay shared that when he had moments of breaking that Omer was the source of hope and optimism and was the one that kept him strong and lifted him, he was the only one that was able to lift his spirits, those were his exact words,’ she said.
‘Thinking that he’s still there alone… there’s no-one there to lift Omer’s spirits and keep him hopeful.’
She added that Hamas members had ‘not been kind’ to Omer, who has asthma and Celiac disease, as his friends recounted how when he coughs they tell him to ‘shut up or he will be killed’.
‘He would count the days and also listen to the Muslim call to prayers, that’s how he would know the days,’ Leat added.
While Jews in America observe Passover, Omer has also been practicing his faith as closely as he has been able to while in captivity, including by doing Kiddush blessings on Friday nights and rationing his food.
‘Now with Holocaust Day approaching, it’s surreal that my cousin, 21 years old, in 2024, is experiencing and acting in the same way that our ancestors did,’ Leat said.
‘When they say never again it hits very close to home and it feels like the world has forgotten that.
‘It’s very difficult to think of that in light of everything that is happening.’
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk