Mayor Eric Adams holds roundtable with Jewish CUNY students to address antisemitism on campus

CeFaan Kim Image
Monday, September 23, 2024
Adams holds roundtable with Jewish students to address antisemitism
CeFaan Kim reports on the mayor's roundtable discussion with Jewish CUNY students to address antisemitism on campus.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Mayor Eric Adams held a roundtable discussion at City Hall on Monday with Jewish students to talk about antisemitism on CUNY campuses.

Video from outside a kosher restaurant in Midtown on Sept. 3 showed pro-Palestinian student protesters carrying images of assault rifles and threatening Jewish students.

A group of Baruch College students were on the receiving end.

"At first it was very shocking... you started getting scared, what's happening here. And then very anxious," said student Ernest Rafailov.

The CUNY Jewish students were followed to the restaurant where the mob blockaded the entrance, slammed the windows, and hurled insults at Jewish patrons.

The students called police, but they say cops did little to help.

"They came to the scene about 30 minutes after we called them, they really didn't do anything after we called them, they kinda just stood and watched," said student Aidan Herzlinger.

It's because of fears and concerns like theirs that Adams held the roundtable discussion at City Hall.

"When people are able to say they are Hamas, we may hate that, but that's protected speech in this country, and we have to find the balance of making sure we raise our voices to counter the hate we are seeing," Adams said.

"Free expression is vital to a free society, but there's a difference between free expression and harassment," said Rep. Ritchie Torres. "There's a difference between free expression and intimidation. And what we're seeing in our colleges and universities is the creation of a hostile environment."

Students said they came away with a better understanding of what police can and cannot do in those types of situations.

They said they still feel the police response wasn't enough, but said they think there will be change moving forward.

Meanwhile the students said the harassment on campuses have become more intense compared to last school year. They think protesters have become more emboldened because they say last school year there were no consequences.

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