Protester at NYU pro-Palestinian rally spits on 'Jewish' sign, equates with 'White Supremacy'
A protestor attending a rally at New York University (NYU) flagrantly spit on a banner that said "Jewish" then used it to create a sign that said "Jewish Supremacy" in front of onlookers in a new video obtained by Fox News.
Approximately 100 people attended the pro-Palestinian rally on Thursday, where protesters called for the school to cancel a study abroad program that would send students to Tel Aviv, Israel.
During the event, a protester wearing a knit beanie, black zip-up jacket, sunglasses and black balaclava covering his face stood near the NYU campus library.
The video showed the man ripping the word "Jewish" off his banner and raising the piece in the air.
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"Yes, we're Jewish," several people said as they watched.
"You're Jewish? What changed?" said one.
The protester then dropped the ripped paper, pulled down his mask and spit on it.
Some onlookers appeared unfazed by the performative display, while others gasped and groaned.
"Oh, my god," one woman exclaimed.
The group watched the protester as he walked several feet away, closer to the library's entrance. As he paraded around, several people scolded the man.
"World peace achieved," one man joked.
Others urged the protester to remove his mask, repeatedly calling him a "coward."
The group cheered when the man pulled his face covering down. However, their attitude changed when he quickly reapproached the group and again spit on the "Jewish" sign. The group then became more agitated and began cursing at the protester, urging him to dare to spit on them directly.
As the man walked away, he spun around and began bobbing his hand in the air, which the group interpreted as a Nazi salute.
The protester then grabbed the original display from which the word "Jewish" was ripped. On the back, red ink displayed the words "Religious Killers." The front of the banner had two dates, 1948 and 2023, with a Star of David in between, and the words "White Supremacy."
"Your own mother's ashamed of you," one man told the protester. "Your ancestors are ashamed of you."
The man, while wearing a red jacket, would later change the sign by placing the word "Jewish" over "White" so it read, "Jewish Supremacy," and the dates were replaced with the words "Pure Evil" around the Star of David.
Speaking with Fox News Digital, NYU Senior Vice President for Public Affairs and Strategic Communications John Beckman said the individual in the video has no connection to NYU and NYPD officials identified him as a well-known antisemite who can often be found in front of the Israeli embassy and midtown. Beckman said the man often tries to attach himself to pro-Palestinian demonstrations and tries to provoke others into violent reactions.
During Thursday’s protest, Beckman said he and the head of NYU’s Office of Student Discipline sought to engage the man, "because if he had been a member of the NYU community, his sign would have subjected him to our disciplinary processes. NYU does not tolerate antisemitic language - it is against our rules." In response, the man allegedly directed "a flurry of antisemitic" slurs at the administrators.
When the man first arrived at the event, Beckman said the Palestinian demonstrators, "who were protesting in a peaceful and orderly fashion," kicked him out of their protest because of his "repugnant, antisemitic sign."
Afterwards, Beckman said the man spent the rest of the day several yards away from the demonstrators on a public sidewalk, with NYPD officers standing by "to ensure his provocations did not lead to fights or disorderly conduct."
"His signs were vile, disgraceful, and antisemitic, as were his verbal utterances; NYU condemns them. His language is repugnant, and worthy of nothing other than condemnation," Beckman added.
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Protests over the Israel-Hamas war have broken out across the NYU campus in recent weeks.
Last week, professors and students, who are members of Students for Justice in Palestine and the recently formed faculty group, took over the NYU library for around 90 minutes, hanging banners and chanting while some professors spoke to a crowd of dozens of people.
A petition subsequently circulated, demanding the university create a safe environment for Jewish students at NYU.
Beckman released a statement to Washington Square News in response, saying, "Free expression is a bedrock principle for the university... The protesters were informed that hanging banners and using amplification in the library or otherwise disrupting operations at the university violates the university's rules and the protest ended shortly thereafter."
"Given the heightened sensitivity around current events, we expect that people will exercise free expression respectfully and responsibly," he added.
A few days later, members of New York's Tisch family projected the faces of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas onto the NYU library building to support Jewish students after posters showing similar photos were ripped down.
One student had previously admitted to tearing down the posters and confessed that her actions were based on "misplaced anger."
NYU spokesman Joseph Tierlla later said the school took the matter seriously and was investigating.
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Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.