A 19-year-old female suspect allegedly assaulted a 24-year-old Israeli student in the School of General Studies at Columbia University on Wednesday evening after tearing down photos of Israeli hostages that had been posted by the victim.
A spokesperson for the NYPD told National Review that Maxwell Friedman was arrested and charged with one count of assault. The victim suffered minor injuries, including a broken finger and laceration, according to the Columbia University student publication, which complied with the victim’s request to remain anonymous.
The victim and a friend had reportedly been putting up posters of Israelis who had been taken hostage by Hamas. The perpetrator asked to join, and later, began ripping down the posters, shouting obscenities, and, when confronted, hit the victim with a stick.
“Upon arrival, officers were informed that the victim, a 24-year-old male, was engaged in a dispute with an unknown individual. The dispute became physical and the individual struck the victim in the hand with a wooden stick,” the NYPD told National Review. “The individual, a 19-year-old female was taken into custody. The victim refused medical attention on scene.”
The victim told the Columbia Spectator that he did not feel safe returning to campus in the coming days and said he cautioned other Jewish and Israeli students against attending classes, given that pro-Palestinian groups were planning protests for Thursday.
“This is because me being an Israeli these days. Not me because being myself,” the victim told the paper. “It is because me being an Israeli who is under a certain kind of threat.”
At least 1,200 Israelis were killed after Hamas terrorists poured across the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Thursday that the American death toll from the Hamas terrorist attacks has risen to 25.
The School of General Studies at Columbia University did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
A group of 44 House Republicans sent a letter to Department of Education secretary Miguel Cardona urging the federal agency to protect the “safety and well-being” of Jewish college students in light of Thursday’s “national day of resistance,” organized by the national leadership of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The letter argues that the demonstrations could “result in the creation of a hostile environment for Jewish students and acts of harassment against them.”
Student groups at colleges and universities have released statements justifying Hamas terrorism as the inevitable result of Israeli aggression. According to the Harvard Crimson, a student newspaper, at least eight of the original 34 Harvard student groups that signed a statement arguing they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” have since retracted their signatures.