A Jewish Columbia University student was told to “kill yourself” and repeatedly kicked in the stomach during an anti-Israel protest on a New York City campus.
Elisha “Rishi” Baker, 21; told the New York Post He said the anti-Semitic comments came after his shirt was scorched in the fire.
He said he felt the protesters “didn’t understand my humanity.”
“I knew that anti-American sentiment was widespread.” [among protesters]Baker told the outlet on Wednesday. “I didn’t realize how deadly an epidemic it was until my shirt caught fire. Personally, I felt they didn’t understand my humanity.”
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New York City police officers try to rescue Elisha “Rishi” Baker, 21, center, after someone set him on fire during an anti-Israel demonstration. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacchi)
Baker told the New York Post that curiosity led him and his friend David Lederer to attend a protest on the Ivy League university’s campus.
The university student said nothing prepared him for what he witnessed at the protests.
“Kill yourself, kill yourself,” Baker remembered them yelling at him.
Anti-Israel demonstrators demonstrated in front of Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday. (Peter Garber, Fox News Digital)
He said the situation worsened after he asked protesters what they thought about the Star-Spangled Banner.
The unidentified protester then violently kicked Baker, who was standing next to his friend, in the stomach before fleeing.
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Tarek Bazrouk, 19, was arrested on suspicion of assault for “causing redness and pain” to Baker’s abdomen, according to the NYPD.
Anti-Israel demonstrators demonstrated alongside NYPD police lines outside the Columbia University campus in New York City on Thursday. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared the Campus Quad encampment. (Peter Garber, Fox News Digital)
Lederer said he and four others attended an anti-Israel rally in New York City on Monday, carrying American flags.
Lederer and four of his friends were not wearing anything that indicated they were Jewish, but they carried American flags.
Lederer recalled protesters chanting, “Burn it again, burn it again,” the New York Post reported.
Demonstrators also called them “genocide supporters” and said they were “unwelcome.”
At one point, Mr. Lederer’s American flag was ripped from his hands and immediately burned by protesters.
Anti-Israel demonstrators demonstrate in front of Columbia University on Thursday. (Peter Garber, Fox News Digital)
Lederer and Baker told the outlet that they were documenting the protests in New York City to show “how anti-American these protests are.”
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“It shouldn’t just be a Jewish issue,” Lederer added.
“It’s very sad that the world has come to this point,” Baker said.
Anti-Israel students demonstrated outside Columbia University on Thursday. (Peter Garber, Fox News Digital)
The Jewish college student’s experience came after the NYPD arrested 108 people on trespassing charges after student protesters set up camp on the campus lawn.
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New York City police officers noted that many of the protesters were peaceful and did not resist arrest.
However, police officials said about 500 students left the classroom and told police they were the KKK, baby killers, and that they were going to kill themselves.
Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
