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Jewish students at Stanford University say they have been left fearing for their lives after the campus became dominated by anti-Semitic protestors. A number of hostile clashes have been marked across the prestigious university since the Middle East crisis erupted after Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack.
Officials have come under fire for failing to clamp down on the discrimination, with shocking footage shared by the Free Beacon including a teaching assistant calling for the assassination of Joe Biden over his support for Israel. Other incidents include a teacher allegedly ordering Jewish students to stand in the corner ‘like Israel does to the Palestinians’, and extremist students warning people ‘we will find out where you live.’
In perhaps the most shocking of the exchanges that have rocked Stanford’s campus in recent months, teaching assistant Hamza El Boudali (pictured) allegedly erupted into threats as he protested a pro-Israel display. He was seen in footage standing in front of Stanford’s Blue and White tent, an education tent about Israel manned by Jewish students, holding a sign that read: ‘Ask Me About Jihad.’
When confronted over the sign, El Boudali allegedly responded that he would welcome Biden’s assassination, and would prefer Hamas to take over the federal government. The teaching assistant added that Jews under Hamas-occupied America would do ‘very well… just like the hostages.’ El Boudali, a computer science teaching assistant, was reported to the university, which declined to punish him or strip him of his grading duties, and only moved his office hours with students to Zoom.
A university spokesperson told the Free Beacon, ‘Stanford takes accusations about potential discriminatory behavior by instructors very seriously’, and added students can get their work re-graded by another instructor if they choose to. He reportedly didn’t deny the encounter, but defended it as ‘the Blue and White Tent has been presenting Islamophobic rhetoric and misinformation to the campus community. ‘As a Muslim student who has been here for over 5 years, I took it upon myself to combat their Islamophobia through education.’ In another unsavory exchange on January 24, a forum on combatting anti-Semitism was overran by pro-Palestine protestors.
The activists were seen in footage harassing and taunting Jewish students, after they descended on the venue and warned staff they would ‘find out where you live.’ At the event, Stanford president Richard Saller tried to reassure students that the university was behind them, saying: ‘We really do want to make sure that all of the communities on campus get the respect that they deserve. We’re committed to equal treatment and equal protection.’ But just outside the event, protestors gathered to demonstrate against the war in the Middle East, targeting a rabbi and berating a Jewish student.
The student, David Schuller, 24, approached the group outside the event, before footage showed them surround and heckle him in response. As the students scream at him that the ‘IDF killed your hostages’ in Gaza bombings, police stood by and did nothing. At one point a protestor appeared to whisper something in his ear, which Schuller claimed was them making a violent threat against him. ‘He told me, Watch it man, we’re watching you. You better know what you’re getting into,’ Schuller told the ‘I had to take a couple steps back and tell the cops he threatened physical violence.’
Numerous other protests and demonstrations against Jewish students have erupted across the campus, including one where they warned Jewish students to ‘go back to Brooklyn.’ The chant is referencing the large Jewish population in the New York City borough, which is hosts the most Jews of anywhere in the world. Video of the moment also saw the pro-Palestine protestors brand white people ‘terrorists’ and call for the destruction of Israel and America. ‘Stanford employees, we know your names and we know where you work,’ another said as staff tried to calm the tensions. ‘And we will soon find out where you live.’
Further incidents included the apparent targeting of Stanford’s Chabad Rabbi Dov Greenberg (pictured), who was seeing being followed by a mob as he led students away from the clashes. Protestors chanted at him, ‘There is only one solution – intifada revolution’, and, ‘Zionist, Zionist, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.’
The chilling encounters are a stark reminder of the scenes that have erupted on college campuses as a result of the Middle East crisis, with experts reportedly saying they could constitute grounds for a discrimination lawsuit. Nadine Strossen, the former president of the American Civil Liberties Union who has argued for free speech, said the January 24 protests ‘clearly crossed the line into unprotected harassment and threats.’ She added that it ‘makes it impossible for everyone on campus to have true free speech.’ In the case of El Boudali’s antics, Ilya Shapiro, the director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, felt the ‘grading responsibility strengthens the case that El Boudali’s comments contributed to a hostile educational environment.’
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