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Anti-Israel protester screams ‘Go back to Poland’ at demonstrators with Israeli flag outside Columbia, harrowing video shows

By
Steven Vago and
Isabel Keane
Published April 21, 2024, 2:49 p.m. ET
Pro-Palestine protester tells demonstrators at Columbia with Israeli flag ‘go back to Poland’
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An anti-Israel protester was caught on camera near Columbia University on Saturday night screaming at opposing demonstrators holding an Israeli flag, “Go back to Poland!” and “Go back to Belarus!”

Video shows the offensive marcher, dressed in a bright yellow jacket, black baseball cap and black face mask, waving the Palestinian flag in front of several demonstrators, including those carrying a rolled-up Israeli flag, and hissing, “Get the hell out of here!

protesters
A pro-Palestinian protester was yelling at pro-Israel protesters go “go back to Poland” and “go back to Belarus.” Steve Vago

“Go back to Poland! Go back to Belarus!” the man bellows outside a gate to the Ivy League university’s campus on Amsterdam Avenue in Upper Manhattan, as the two opposing sides yell and film each other with their cell phones.

Jewish populations in both countries’ regions were decimated during the Holocaust.

Antisemitism controversy at Columbia University: Key events

  • Columbia University President Minouche Shafik stepped down on Aug. 14 after facing backlash over the Ivy League’s anti-Israel protests.
  • More than 280 anti-Israel demonstrators were cuffed at Columbia and the City of New York campuses in a “massive” NYPD operation a few months ago.
  • Over 100 people were nabbed at the Ivy League campus after cops responded to Columbia’s request to help oust a destructive mob that had illegally taken over the Hamilton Hall academic building in April, NYC Mayor Eric Adams and police said.
  • Hizzoner blamed the on-campus chaos on insurgents who have a “history of escalating situations and trying to create chaos” instead of protesting peacefully.
  • More than 100 Columbia professors signed a letter defending students who support the “military action” by Hamas.

The anti-Israel protesters were seen later that night chanting, blowing whistles and banging on drums and lighting green and red flares outside the gate.

Rabbi Elie Buechler urged Jewish students Sunday morning to return home, noting he does not believe the university’s law enforcement or the NYPD can guarantee the safety of Jewish students in the face of rising antisemitism.

pro-Palestine protester
The protester eventually yelled at the other group of demonstrators to “get the hell out of here.” Steve Vago
protesters
Anti-Israel protesters were seen later that night chanting, blowing whistles, banging on drums and lighting green and red flares. Steve Vago

“It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved,” the rabbi said over WhatsApp.

“It is not our job as Jews to ensure our own safety on campus,” he said. “No one should have to endure this level of hatred, let alone at school.”

Follow The Post’s coverage of the pro-terror protests at colleges across the US:

Jewish students who showed up on campus Saturday night to protest antisemitism at the Ivy League university carried Israeli flags and sang “One Day,” a song of peace by reggae singer and rapper Matisayhu — only to be promptly attacked by hate speech and threatened with calls to violence, witnesses told The Post.

Their protests Saturday follow this week’s congressional hearing with Columbia President Minouche Shafik, who spoke about the university’s response to antisemitism.