In this segment of The Dennis Prager Show, the host broadcasts from New York City after traveling to Columbia University to document the ongoing protests. He describes how the university has sealed its campus, requiring student IDs for entry, and notes a heavy NYPD presence with multiple officers and vans at the gates. The report details several protest groups on the sidewalks: a large Orthodox Jewish anti‑Zionist contingent—including children—chanting against the state of Israel; a Muslim prayer group also holding anti‑Israel signs; and individual masked demonstrators equating Israel with Nazis. The host highlights confrontations between these protesters and passing students, including a Jewish student using a bullhorn to criticize the Orthodox demonstrators. He comments on the impact of the lockdown and protests on Columbia students, noting classes moving online and the tense atmosphere. The segment ends with a call to watch the full episode on the Salem News Channel and a promotion for the show’s membership.
Chapters
So for those of you who are just joining us, I was saying that I'm actually broadcasting right now out of New York City because I dared to fly out here last week and see what was going on at Columbia University for myself. Last week, we know that there were hundreds of students who had occupied the South Lawn at Columbia University, which is the, the center lawn on campus and they were putting up their Palestine flags and they had these tent encampments. And the university said to them, okay, you can be here, but you've got to clear out at a certain time. And unsurprisingly, these students, because they have never followed directions in the history of their time at these universities, they have never walked forth with some kind of deference to authority. Unsurprisingly, they did not clear out of those encampments. Many were arrested, which of course set off this whole firestorm of the colonial police state that exists here in the United States and at these universities, that they would dare to arrest pro-Palestinian students. And then it all just really metastasized from there. So I decided to fly out go see what's going on at Columbia University. And I took some videos to show you right now. Those of you who are listening to the show, uh, I will narrate them as the videos go on. I think I narrate them, uh, on video, uh, too. But, but you should, uh, watch on the Salem News Channel if you have the opportunity to really see what's going on. So I went during the daytime because, call me crazy, I didn't want to go at nighttime for fear of my own safety, but what's important to know is that Columbia right now actually blocks off the inside of campus to only allow students to go in there. So you have to present a Columbia University ID to get inside the campus. Usually when these universities are normal Everyday people can walk in, they can walk around the buildings, they can go to the quads and the lawns, but things are so bad that they only allowed Columbia University students in. So what I'm about to show you is on the perimeter of the university, on the sidewalks. When I showed up there at 12 o'clock on Friday, it was a moment of calm. And as the hours went on, it was getting less calm, less calm, less calm. And more just absolutely crazy, for lack of a better term. So to situate you a little bit, I'm outside of the Columbia University gates. There are easily 3 dozen police officers standing there by the gates. They have a tent with security to check Columbia student IDs to go inside the gates of the university. Parked on the sidewalk are 4 to 5, and I have pictures and videos of this, 4 to 5 vans of NYPD officers. So the police presence there was incredibly intense. It seemed literally like the president of the United States was visiting Columbia. It was that level of security. But of course it wasn't. That was not the case. And on the sidewalk, there was a big Orthodox Jewish group. I'm not sure the name of the sect. I heard different names of, uh, varying information, uh, pertaining to the exact name of the sect. But there were the— this big Orthodox Jewish group of individuals ranging from 75 years old to 4 years old, and they had these huge signs saying, uh, anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, Israel is a genocidal state, and we oppose the state of Israel because we are Jews. So if you're confused, I totally get it. I was a bit confused too. What are these Orthodox Jews, who you would think would be the biggest proponents of the state of Israel, doing outside of Columbia University waving Palestinian flags and chanting for the eradication of the state of Israel. But many of them were there. And then a little more down the block, there was a group of Muslims who had gathered to pray in the direction of Mecca. Of course, that's how Muslims pray, always in the direction of Mecca. But they were on the sidewalk setting up, and they also had signs about Israel being a genocidal state. And then further down the block, there were just various individuals holding up big signs. One of such individuals, as you will see, had a mask on. He did not want to show his face, and he was holding up a sign that said, Israel equals Nazis. So for those of you watching, let's take a look. This first video, video 1, you will see the Orthodox Jews setting up on the sidewalk chanting for the end of the state of Israel. Okay, so here are some posters of the hostages. That's why we have this Orthodox group, which is very anti-Israel right here. This is a pro-Israel group going to put up posters. Anti-Zionism is antisemitism. And you guys You're making a fellow protester. Okay, so just imagine being a Columbia University student and you're just trying to go to class. In walking by that. And again, this was a moment of calm. I've spoken with a lot of Columbia students. In fact, at the top of the next hour, right here on this show, I'm interviewing a senior at Columbia who actually went home because things have gotten so bad and so tense, uh, as, uh, the campus has descended into the dregs and as they are taking classes online because of, um, the amount of vitriol and the amount of tension on campus. But just imagine being a, what, 20, 21-year-old college student trying to go to class and you have all of these Orthodox Jews on the sidewalk, among others, as we'll see, chanting, Judaism yes, as you just heard, Zionism no, the state of Israel must go, they were yelling. And what was so sad is that there were these 4 and 5-year-old kids. Like, there were perhaps 5 to 10 of them, very, very young kids, waving these Palestinian flags, chanting for the eradication of the state of Israel. And they were so angry, these kids, because of course they've been taught to be angry and they're spending their Friday afternoon on a sidewalk in front of Columbia University yelling out at people. And I just looked at these poor kids and I thought, this is such manipulation. You should not be on a sidewalk on a Friday afternoon chanting about Middle East conflict. What do you know about Middle East conflict? You should know nothing about Middle East conflict for another 10 to 15 years of your life. It was a very sad situation all around, to put it lightly. But what you heard in that video was that there was a girl walking by, I believe she's a student. And she had a bullhorn and she's Jewish. And she was shouting at those Orthodox Jews on the sidewalk who were protesting the state of Israel. She was shouting, you are making a mockery of Hashem. You are making a mockery of Judaism. And that was very common for the interactions on the sidewalk, that people walking by would just get into it one way or the other with those demonstrators. So let's look at this video. Again, watching on the Salem News Channel is preferable so you can see it, but you can hear it too, obviously, if you're tuning in via radio. This was a guy with a mask on holding up a sign that on one side, interestingly, had an American flag and said "free speech." And then on the other side of the sign was the Israel flag, and they had that out, and it said "equals Nazis." Here's the video of that situation. So here we have this guy in a mask holding up this sign. Look, look, wait till you see the other part of the sign. And these are students here trying to go to class, and they have to go through security and show their ID to get to class. This is what's outside of their school. Again, what a lovely environment to be in as a student, to go to class and have to pass that. For the full episode of The Dennis Prager Show, go to pragertopia.com, sign up, and become a full member.
