Masked man spits on Jewish sign at NYU protest

A masked anti-Israel protester was caught on video repeatedly spitting on a banner bearing the word “Jewish” during a rally outside NYU’s library Thursday.

The man, whose identity was not known, was seen marching outside the Bobst Library at Washington Square during a protest calling on NYU to scrap its study abroad program in Tel Aviv over Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

In the video shared by the watchdog organization StopAntisemitism on X, the protester, dressed in a black ski mask and leather gloves, with a large silver cross dangling around his neck, is seen carrying a huge sign that reads “Jewish White Supremacy,” with a Star of David drawn in the middle.

He tears the word “Jewish” from the placard, throws it to the ground and spits on it, prompting a dismayed onlooker to call him a “Nazi bastard.”

“Wow, that really just solved something,” a man remarks sarcastically off-camera.

“World peace achieved,” another chimes in, while mockingly applauding the hateful display.

One of the onlookers goads the pro-Palestine picketer to “take the mask off” and labels him a “coward.”

In response, the man in black pulls down his mask and spits a second time on the “Jewish” sign lying on the ground.

“Do it on me! I’m Jewish,” exclaims an outraged bystander.

As chants are heard in the distance, the masked demonstrator pumps his fist in the air, drawing comparisons to the Nazi salute from his critics.

“He’s heiling Hitler,” one observes, while another addresses the man directly, chiding him: “you’re literally a neo-Nazi. You gotta stop it.”

As the protester picks up his anti-Israel sign to leave, one of the appalled bystanders calls out behind him: “your own mother is ashamed of you; your ancestors are ashamed of you.”

In a caption accompanying the minute-long video, StopAntisemitism concluded that the observed conduct “is nothing short of horrifying Nazi like rhetoric of 1933 Germany.”

It was not immediately known whether the masked man with the antisemitic sign was affiliated with NYU.

During the rally Thursday, some 100 students and faculty — among them members of Shut it Down NYU, Students for Justice in Palestine and Faculty for Justice in Palestine — gathered outside the university’s main library demanding that the NYU cancel its study abroad program in Israel, according to reporting by Washington Square News, NYU’s independent student newspaper.

The participants of the demonstration were heard chanting, “shut down sites where students are banned, Tel Aviv is stolen land,” with some 20 Campus Safety and NYPD officers looking on.

A much smaller group of counter-protesters gathered on the sidelines of the main rally, waving Israeli flags and carrying signs featuring photos of hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack.

An NYU spokesperson said the university does not intend to shut down its study abroad program in Israel.

“As to the demands from the demonstrators that NYU close the NYU Tel Aviv site — the university rejects those demands,” John Beckman said in a statement to the outlet.

Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests have become a common sight on college campuses across the US since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East.

At the same time, there has been an uptick in acts of vandalism involving people ripping off posters demanding the return of Israeli hostages, coupled with a surge of antisemitic rhetoric online

During a meeting with Jewish students from Baltimore-area colleges Thursday, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said he was “appalled and horrified” by incidents of antisemitism on campuses.

Cardona said his department was preparing a letter to guide university leaders as they work to protect students from discrimination.

“I want to tell you, we’ve got your back,” Cardona told the two dozen students who gathered at Towson University. “The Department of Education is going to do everything we can to make sure you’re safe on campus.”