From downplaying terror to saying students could ‘die of dehydration and starvation’
NYPD raided the NYU encampment Friday morning
Camp gear, tents and personal items that were left behind by protestors were removed by Sanitation and trashed. CREDIT: FNTV
College campuses nationwide have been inundated with anti-Israel encampments, rallies and protests in recent weeks as law enforcement has attempted to restore order.
Fox News Digital fanned across the country to speak to campus anti-Israel protesters, often catching outlandish comments and moments first-hand along the way. Other rhetoric has gone viral on social media, including protesters who didn’t know why they were protesting.
Here are five of the more eyebrow-raising comments and moments:
Emory senior casts doubt on Oct. 7 violence
"This didn't start on Oct. 7, and I respect that if there was violence done, I'm sorry for that, but I also want people to understand that this started before even 1948 and that the Palestinian people have been experiencing a genocide for a long time. It's not really my place to comment on how people react to a genocide, to an occupation," the student said.
POLICE ARREST THOUSANDS AT COLLEGES ACROSS THE US TO CLEAR ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS, ENCAMPMENTS
University of Chicago students seek giant progressive wishlist that goes well beyond Gaza
"The UChicago Popular University For Gaza demands that U Chicago divest from the Gaza genocide," the protester told the university during a rally. "We demand that U Chicago divest from weapons manufacturers arming Israel and its partnerships with militarized Israeli universities and cut ties with the Israel Institute. We also demand that U Chicago divest from all interrelated forces of death and violence into which it is currently complicit, especially fossil fuel production, UCPD and construction projects that fuel South Side displacement."
She then led chants of "We won't rest 'til you divest!"
Columbia University graduate student says occupiers might die without food delivery
"First of all, we're saying that they're obligated to provide food to students who pay for a meal plan here," the student told reporters when asked about Columbia's role in providing food access for students occupying a campus building, Hamilton Hall.
"I guess it's ultimately a question of what kind of community and obligation Columbia feels it has to its students," the student said. "Do you want students to die of dehydration and starvation or get severely ill, even if they disagree with you?"
She continued: "If the answer is no, then you should allow basic — I mean, it's crazy to say since we're on an Ivy League campus — but this is like, basic humanitarian aid we're asking for, like could people please have a glass of water?"
A Columbia student went viral online after telling members of the media that protesters were at risk of dying or becoming severely ill if authorities did not deliver food and water to them. (Getty Images / AP)
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY CLOSES CAMPUS AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS OCCUPY, VANDALIZE LIBRARY
Anti-Israel protester admits she doesn't know why she's at NYU protest
Last week, in a video clip posted to X by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a young woman at a New York University protest struggled to answer when asked what the "goal" of the demonstration was.
"I think the goal is just showing our support for Palestine and demanding that NYU stops — I honestly don't know all of what NYU is doing," she told the interviewer.
The protester then turns to another protester and asks if she knew why they were there.
"I really don't know. I'm pretty sure they are — do you know what NYU is doing?" she asks.
The second protester also admitted she didn't know.
"I wish I was more educated," she said.
Anti-Israel protesters block Jewish UCLA student from getting to class
A student at UCLA wearing a necklace with the Star of David was seen on video trying to get through a wall of what looked to be masked anti-Israel protesters, before being blocked while a security guard stood by and watched.
In an Instagram video, the poster, Eli Tsives, was seen walking up to a group of masked individuals, one of whom was wearing a "Free Palestine" sweatshirt.
"You guys have closed the entrance. We are UCLA students. I have my ID right here. I’m being blocked off, not by the security guard, but by you three," Tsives said as he walked up to a fenced area with a security guard present. "They’re making a barrier wall. I’m going this way."
Tsives tried to work his way around the three women, but they moved to block him from entering.
"This is what they do. Everybody, look at this. Look at this," the first-year student said. "I’m a UCLA student. I deserve to go here. We pay tuition. This is our school, and they’re not letting me walk in."
Fox News Digital's David Rutz, Greg Wehner, Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.
Brian Flood is a media editor/reporter for FOX News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
