Anti-Israel protesters wasted no time getting back to creating chaos on Ivy League campuses and were caught vandalizing Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, on the first day classes resumed for the fall semester on Tuesday.
The protesters shattered a glass door and defaced campus property with red spray paint, writing, “Israel bombs, Cornell pays” and “Blood is on your hands,” according to a report by the Cornell Daily Sun student newspaper.
Roughly 150 anti-Israel agitators marched on campus on Monday chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” an antisemitic slogan that calls for the elimination of Israel. They also used zip ties to hang a banner that read, “Peoples school coming soon.”
Police arrived about 20 minutes later and began asking the protesters for student identification “for referral for potential disciplinary action,” the student newspaper reported. At that point, “demonstration leaders urged the crowd to disperse in groups.”
But police officers insisted that those refusing to hand over student IDs will still face consequences.
“They’re going to face repercussions. Absolutely. It’s all right here,” an officer said, pointing to his body camera, according to the Cornell Daily Sun.
The protesters were reportedly led by the Coalition for Mutual Liberation (CML), an umbrella organization representing over 40 groups in and around the university.
The groups include the Arab Graduate Student Association, Black Students United, Climate Justice Cornell, Cornell Progressives, Ithaca Ceasefire Now, Jewish Voice for Peace at Cornell, the Muslim Educational and Cultural Association, the Muslim Educational and Cultural Association, Native American and Indigenous Students at Cornell, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Young Democratic Socialists of America, among others.
In an Instagram post, CML shared a photo of former university presidents Liz Magill (University of Pennsylvania), Claudine Gay (Harvard), Martha Pollack (Cornell), and Minouche Shafik (Columbia) alongside their resignation dates with their faces crossed off in red.
“Welcome to the job [Interim Cornell President Michael] Kotlikoff,” the post read, adding, “If you don’t divest, you’re next.”
“We are appalled by the graffiti spraypainted, and glass shattered overnight along the front entrance of Day Hall,” the Ivy League school’s Vice President for University Relations Joel Malina said in a statement.
“Acts of violence, extended occupation of buildings, or property damage (including graffiti) will not be tolerated and will prompt an immediate response from public safety,” Malina added. “Cornell Police are conducting a thorough investigation, and those responsible will be subject to suspension and criminal charges.
Monday’s vandalism at Cornell marked the first anti-Israel protest of the fall semester, following a slew of anti-Israel protests that started last year, after the Iranian-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas massacred Jews in a terrorist attack in Israel on October 7.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
