NYU’s chapter of Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine criticized Zionist movement, Betar USA, for allegedly vandalizing a university building and threatening pro-Palestinian student activists on social media in a Monday press release. A university spokesperson also condemned the “acts of violence and vandalism,” which Betar told WSN it was “unaware of.”
FSJP claimed in its statement that the phrase “Betar was here” was spray-painted on NYU’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World building on East 84th Street last month. The group also said that Betar used its Instagram account to threaten students attending a vigil held by the Students for Justice in Palestine in Bobst Library on Oct. 8. In another story on Instagram, Betar posted an image of pagers with the caption “free pagers for all @nyu_sjp members.” In a statement to WSN, Betar said it told NYU SJP that some of its members had planned to attend and “vowed not to permit a silent vigil honoring terrorists.”
In an Oct. 10 statement, NYU spokesperson John Beckman said that NYU has increased security precautions at the ISAW building and has “referred these matters to law enforcement.” FSJP criticized the statement for not specifying that Betar’s threats were toward pro-Palestinian student activists and said it was only publicized as result of “pressure from students, staff and faculty.” The faculty group claimed in its press release that a staff member wearing a keffiyeh was assaulted by an unidentified perpetrator who had painted the words “NYU School of Terror” on the ISAW building earlier in July.
In statements to WSN, Betar director Ross Glick said that while the group “didn’t do the graffiti,” he believed the statement on the building is not threatening compared to pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus. In a Monday Instagram post, the organization said NYU “fails to protect its Jewish students” and called for “all pro-terror materials and groups” to be removed from college campuses nationwide.
“We call on all Jewish Americans to boycott NYU and for SJP to be banned from NYU,” Glick said. “We stand loudly and proudly opposed to SJP and pro-terror organizations and call on all Jewish Americans to boycott NYU until SJP is banned.”
FSJP claimed the university notifies students of reported incidents of antisemitism more often than incidents targetting pro-Palestinian students. The group said NYU “treats pro-Palestinian demonstrations as threats,” but that Betar’s statements directed at SJP “are not seen as deserving of community-wide notification.”
Increased communications about protests came at the request of students and faculty who attended more than 20 listening sessions over the summer. This semester, NYU has sent Campus Advisory messages ahead of citywide marches on Sept. 2 and Oct. 7, where students called for the university to protect pro-Palestinian speech on campus, pardon students facing disciplinary action and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
FSJP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Update, Oct. 18: The article has been updated with additional information regarding Betar’s threats to NYU’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
Contact Rory Lustberg at [email protected].
