A former Israeli military servicewoman stunned a Fox News host when she said she did not feel safe at Columbia University on Thursday following a night of pro-Palestinian protests at the school.
Protesters lit flares and chanted anti-Israel slogans during a Wednesday night protest hours after Columbia University President Dr. Nemat Shafik was grilled by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York during a House Education Committee hearing titled “Columbia In Crisis: Columbia University’s Response To Antisemitism,” Fox News reported. “Fox and Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones asked Daniella Symonds, who served in an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) search and rescue unit according to her LinkedIn page, if she felt fear for her safety at the university in light of the protests. (RELATED: Elise Stefanik Says US ‘Allowing’ Hostile Countries To ‘Brainwash’ Next Generation)
“Yes,” Symonds, who said she had friends and family serving in the IDF, said. “I do. I have had my friends attacked for showing Judaism, for wearing yarmulkes, for showing their dog tags and wearing stars of David.”
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“Public safety gets called or it gets reported,” Symonds added when Jones asked about what happens when assaults take place. “What happens when it gets reported, are there steps taken to prevent it in the future? So far, no.”
During Wednesday’s hearing, comments from Columbia University professors Jospeh Massad, who reportedly called the use of paragliders “innovative” in an article posted on Electronic Intifada, and Mohammad Abdou, who aligned himself with Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, were highlighted by Stefanik and Republican Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan.
Student Palestinian Group Holds Rally At Columbia University (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Other elite schools have had demonstrations since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas where protesters made statements like “resistance is justified,” including an Oct. 15 protest at Cornell University where attendees chanted a slogan that has connotations of wiping out Israel after a professor called the attacks “exhilarating.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nR), confers with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (R), during their meeting with US President Joe Biden (L) at the start of the Israeli war cabinet meeting, in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by Miriam Alster / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MIRIAM ALSTER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s important for me to be there right now because people in the military, my friends, my family, they are fighting a war, truly, and I’m deeply religious person and I believe I was put here for a reason and so I’m going to fight,” Symonds told Jones.
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