A Chabad rabbi at the University of California, Los Angeles was assaulted and harried with antisemitic statements and death threats on Monday night.
Rabbi Dovid Gurevich was called a “pedophile rabbi” and had his phone smacked out of his hand as he recorded an anti-Israel protest at the campus.
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“Israel is full of pedophiles,” said a masked protester in a video posted by the rabbi on Instagram. Another man could be heard accusing the rabbi of seeking to sexually assault children.Masked activists threatened to beat the rabbi unconscious, and when Gurevich asked one why he concealed his face, the activist responded, “If I show my face, I’ll have to f--- kill you.”
Other masked activists told Gurevich and other Jewish students to “Go back to Poland or Ukraine” and “go back to Europe.”“Death to f--- Zionism,” said a protester.They explained that Israelis were actually all native to Europe and that while they liked Jews, they hated Zionists, who are “fake Jews.”“Okay, Jewsplaining,” the rabbi laughed. “You’re telling the rabbi who the real Jews are... stop gaslighting.”The activists tried to argue that Zionism was a racist ideology, which Gurevich dismissed as classic communist talking points. He accused the protesters of being anti-American and challenged a protester to explain the meaning of the number 1492 emblazoned on his hat. The rabbi asked if it was meant to represent the expulsion of Jews from Spain in that year, but the activist refused to answer.“Why don’t you leave the UCLA campus and leave students alone?” said the rabbi.
Anti-Israel activists try to reestablish encampment
UCLA’s Police Department and Students for Justice in Palestine UCLA said that students had been arrested as anti-Israel activists attempted to reestablish an encampment on campus.Law enforcement said in a Monday statement that about 100 students “set up an unauthorized and unlawful encampment with tents, canopies, wooden shields, and water-filled barriers.” The activists “restricted access to the general public” and disrupted nearby exams with amplified sound devices. The group was dispersed, but they set up encampments at two other locations when police demanded they leave.Twenty-five students were arrested for disruption of university operations and have been issued 14-day stay-away orders from UCLA. Another student was arrested at the first encampment for interfering with a police officer. SJP recorded one protest leader with a megaphone being grabbed and taken by police.“As a result of the unauthorized and unlawful encampments at the three locations, the group damaged the Shapiro fountain, spray-painted brick walkways, tampered with fire safety equipment, damaged patio furniture, stripped wire from electrical fixtures, and vandalized vehicles,” said UCPD.