A security team at Cooper Union College in the United States locked Jewish students in the library on Wednesday night to protect them against a pro-Palestinian group, which tried to break down the door.
Video taken by one of the students shows several Orthodox Jewish students trapped in the library as a mob gathered behind the door and chanted "Free Palestine."
Jewish students at Cooper Union College have been locked inside the library for their own safety as a mob of anti Israeli protesters block the doors.Where are the police?!!!pic.twitter.com/Uv4CFRqGzm
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 25, 2023
According to reports, NYPD police forces finally escorted the students out through tunnels using a back door.
Pro-Palestine protests on American campuses
The incident at Cooper Union is the latest in a string of anti-Zionist and antisemitic incidents since the October 7 Hamas massacre and the ensuing war between Israel and the terrorist group in the Gaza Strip.
On October 12, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) organized a “National Day of Resistance” on college campuses across the United States. A “Day of Resistance toolkit” released by SJP said the “students in exile are part of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement” and called for the mobilization of its supporters now that “the Zionist entity is fragile, and Palestinian resistance is alive.”
University of Washington (Seattle), Columbia University, University of North Carolina, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), University of Southern Florida (USF), University of Virginia, and University of Illinois were among the US campuses that hosted SJP rallies on the "National Day of Resistance."