The Chabad rabbi of Columbia University and a group of Jewish students were forced to leave the university campus for their own safety during a pro-Hamas demonstration overnight Saturday, according to video posted to social media. In the footage, a female student can be heard asking why the anti-Israel protesters are following them, and another student can be heard saying that they needed to stick together for safety. During Saturday night's demonstration, protesters attempted to break through the campus gate, chanting "Break da lock," "Someone torch it," Pick the lock," and "It's just a lock." Demonstrators chanted "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" and "there is only one solution, Intifada revolution." The New York Post reported that a female demonstrator was evacuated from campus on a stretcher. It was unclear how the woman was injured or what her condition was. The protests began with the erection of 60 tents on the university campus on Wednesday. Over 100 protestors were arrested on the first day of the protest, and agitators from off-campus began gathering at the school to support the anti-Israel students. On Friday, videos were posted to social media showing protestors at Columbia University threatening that more massacres similar to the Hamas massacre of October 7 would be committed. "Remember the 7th of October!" one protester yelled. "That will happen not one more time, not five more times, not 10 more times, not 100 more times, not 1000 more times, but 10,000 times!" "Never forget the 7th of October," said another protestor. "Are you ready? 7th of October is about to be every day. Every day. 7th of October is going to be every day for you." Protesters also held signs pointing at Jewish students, calling them "Al-Qassam's next targets" in reference to the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization. A group of Jewish Columbia alumni wrote to university president Minouche Shafik that the ongoing anti-Israel protests on campus were creating an unsafe atmosphere for Jewish students and that violence against Jews was likely in the near-future. “At present, new, unauthorized protests are disrupting classes and creating an irrefutably unsafe environment for Jewish students,” the alumni wrote, adding that “violence against Jewish students is imminent." The letter called on Shafik to ensure that “all possible steps to protect Jewish safety.”
