NYU Students Seen Tearing Down Posters of Missing Israelis

Pictures of missing Israeli hostages pasted up on campus at New York University were ripped down by three students, a viral video shows.

Two of the group were then seen walking away with their arms full of the shredded posters. The flyers had shown the faces of some of the victims kidnapped by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on October 7 during its surprise large-scale attack against Israel. The New York University (NYU) footage was filmed by a bystander and posted online on Monday by the organization StopAntisemitism, which said the "lack of humanity [... was] heartbreaking."

The incident comes amid heightened tensions after Hamas launched its attack. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by declaring war against Hamas, and launched a series of devastating air strikes that have reduced entire streets in Gaza to rubble. After a week of fighting, more than 1,400 Israelis and 2,670 Palestinians have been killed, the Associated Press reported.

Thousands of miles away from the fighting in the Middle East, an Israel-Palestinian divide is also tearing apart U.S. communities and colleges. Supporters of both sides have clashed in global protests, which have also been seen in many American cities.

The video of the incident at NYU reportedly shows two women pulling down Israeli missing-person posters after dozens of the flyers were pasted onto the side of the university's Tisch Hall. The pair are soon joined by a third person who helps them remove every single one. And a photo shows the two instigators leaving the scene afterwards, their arms filled with the posters.

The 10-second clip was posted on social-media site X, formerly called Twitter, by the group StopAntisemitism, which wrote: "HORRIFYING- NYU students walking around campus removing posters featuring missing Israelis being held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists. The lack of humanity by your students is not only heartbreaking but extremely concerning." The footage had been viewed more than 1.7 million times by Tuesday morning.

Newsweek has reached out by email to New York University seeking further information and comment.

Many viewers took to the comments to share their disgust. One wrote: "Reprehensible. Regardless of your stance, the fact remains that these people are being held captive. Trying to silence that truth is unacceptable."

Another added: "As an @nyuniversity alum this is extremely sad but not surprising. I will never give another dollar until they start calling out antisemitism and suggest other alums do the same."

However, some online commentators said that the trio's actions were heroic. And one wrote that it had been ridiculous to have "kidnapped/missing posters from other countries" displayed on campus when "these people are 5,000 miles apart."

It's not the first time the university has found itself in the spotlight over the stance of its students. An NYU law student, who is president of the Student Bar Association, saw a job offer rescinded last week after Ryna Workman wrote a newsletter saying, "Israel bears full responsibility" for the Hamas attack, adding: "I will not condemn Palestinian resistance."

Back in 2019, NYU was forced to apologize when a graduation speaker, academic Steven Thrasher, praised an Israeli campus boycott.

However, NYU is not unique in the difficulties it is facing. Protests and rallies have rocked several American colleges relating to the latest outbreak of violence in the Middle East, including the University of Pennsylvania. At Harvard, several student organizations signed an open letter saying they held "the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence."

There have also been outbreaks of violence in communities during demonstrations as pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli supporters have clashed in New York and other American cities.

The febrile situation has even led to attacks against Muslims and Jewish people. A 6-year-old Muslim boy was stabbed to death by his family's landlord in Chicago, Illinois, at the weekend because he was enraged about the Israel-Hamas conflict, police said. A Jewish woman was targeted by a stranger on Saturday who hurled antisemitic abuse at her in her own home in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.

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