Jewish Students Hid in NYC College Library as Pro-Palestinian Protesters Banged on Doors, Called for ‘Intifada’

Jewish students huddled in the locked library of a New York City college Wednesday night while protesters banged on the doors, yelling “free Palestine” and “globalize the intifada from New York to Gaza,” while trying to break in.

According to eyewitness Jake Novak, former media director at the Israeli Consulate in New York, the protesters, who had been gathered outside the Cooper Union library, learned the Jewish students were in the library and frightened, and brought the rally indoors. A video Novak posted on X displayed the scene:

Later that evening, Novak shared that campus security had led the students out of the library through tunnels. After the fact, he and New York City councilwoman Inna Vernikov shared more information they had gleaned through speaking with those locked inside.

The campus rally was part of a national “walk-out” day for Palestinian activists, for which faculty members canceled class, encouraged students to participate, and in some instances offered extra credit for those students who did. Vernikov posted on X that several Cooper Union faculty members participated in the walk-out themselves.

Novak said the “NYPD was called as soon as the protesters stormed the main Cooper Union building, but did nothing.” Vernikov added that police did not immediately arrive on the scene, and when they did, they did not enter the building.

The NYPD told students that the college would not allow officers onto school grounds to protect the besieged Jewish students, according to Vernikov. Instead, the school librarians, taking matters into their own hands, bolted the Jewish students inside the library and offered them hiding spots in the attic.

Vernikov wrote that campus security escorted the school’s dean out of the building through a rear exit. That dean, she said, then claimed the situation was stable and the students were safe.

In a statement to the New York Jewish Week, Cooper Union downplayed the situation, saying “the library was closed for approximately 20 minutes late this afternoon while student protestors moved through our building. Some students who were previously in the library remained there during this time.”

Cooper Union had not responded to National Review’s request for comment by press time.