anti-israel demonstrators Critics say people hiding their identities through coronavirus masks and other face coverings while wreaking havoc on American college campuses are “gutless” and represent the “opposite of courage.” told FOX News Digital.
Cloth coverings have played an important role in American life during the pandemic, as demonstrators across the country use them to hide their faces while calling for an end to the war in Gaza. Recently, it has once again attracted national attention. But protests, including masked demonstrators on campuses such as Columbia University and UCLA, have caused property damage, violence and Hundreds of arrests.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said: “Hiding behind a mask and threatening or intimidating people is the opposite of courage, let alone a physical attack.” Not to mention harassment and assault,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, told FOX News Digital. “But if a school allows this, it not only creates vulnerability for the campus community, it can create real danger.”
“If you show up to an event dressed as a bank robber, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for people to ask if you’re really here to exercise your constitutional right to freedom of assembly. “There may be,” he added.
Live updates: Anti-Israel protests on US college campuses
Police and anti-Israel protesters wait outside the barricaded Portland State University Library on Thursday, May 2, in Portland, Oregon. Demonstrators wearing coronavirus masks and other facial coverings, including the keffiyeh, a scarf symbolizing Palestinian solidarity, have been seen at some anti-Israel demonstrations across the United States, leading to destruction of property, violence and resulted in an arrest. (Mathieu Louis Rolland/Getty Images)
One student protesting at New York University told Fox News this week that he was wearing a mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
other students across the country told the New York Times He said he was hiding out of fear that his identity would be exposed by pro-Israel groups that denounce anti-Semitism, that the video would be spread and that he would be the subject of online harassment.
“They’re just doing it to hide their identity,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) told Fox News Digital. “I also feel like they’re probably being paid. Some of them are paid agitators who aren’t college students, so they’re trying to hide it even more.”
Columbia University professor says anti-Israel protests are about one thing:
Protesters wearing masks and other face coverings can be seen on the ULCA campus on Thursday, May 2nd. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
In 2019, Burchett called for “a new criminal civil rights violation for disguising while impeding another’s exercise of a protected right or privilege” and “enhancing certain existing offenses that are prohibited.” Sponsored a bill called the Unmasking Antifa Act. To act in disguise. ”
He called today’s anti-Israel demonstrators “gutless” and said President Biden has taken similar action on the issue of demonstrations.
On Monday, April 22nd, anti-Israel agitators set up an encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York City. (Peter Garber)
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“He’s been pretty gutless in the past trying to play both teams. When you’re a leader, you just do the right thing,” Burchett said. “If someone is breaking the law, they need to be prosecuted.”
FOX News’ Alexis McAdams and Luis Casiano contributed to this report.
