Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hailed the anti-Israel protesters at college campuses on Monday, depicting them as “peaceful” despite tense confrontations that forced a rabbi linked to Columbia University to urge Jewish students to stay away.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, was speaking at an Earth Day event with President Biden in Virginia when she suddenly compared young voters fighting climate change to those protesting at the nation’s universities.
“It is especially important that we remember the power of young people shaping this country today, of all days, as we once again witness the leadership of those peaceful, student-led protests on campuses like Columbia, Yale, Berkley and many others,” she said at the event in Prince William Forest.
Hours earlier, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik declared that the Ivy League school is facing a “crisis” and ordered classes to be held remotely and stepping up security for the escalating anti-Israel protests.
At Yale University, police officers arrested protesters who had set up an encampment on campus. After the arrests, demonstrators blocked students from entering buildings at the school.
The mood remains tense at Columbia where Rabbi Elie Buechler, who heads the Orthodox Union of the Columbia-Bernard campuses, urged Jewish students on Sunday to “return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved.”
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“What we are witnessing in and around campus is terrible and tragic,” Rabbi Buechler said in the email shared by the Orthodox Union. “The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made it clear that Columbia University‘s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy.”