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."
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.