A Jewish NYU Professor Condemns Student Protesters Demanding Israel Boycott
In a heated exchange, Scott Galloway, a professor at the NYU Stern School of Business, has lashed out at student protesters who descended on Washington Square Park to demand a “total academic boycott of Israel” on Tuesday.
Galloway expressed his views on MSNBC, stating that he believes there is a “double standard” in the way the protests are being handled. He argued that if he were to go into the NYU square with a white hood and call for the lynching of Black people or the burning of gay individuals, his ID would be shut off by that night, and he would never work in academia again. Galloway emphasized that there would be no need for “context or nuance” in such a scenario, and he would not be protected by the First Amendment or free speech.
The professor’s comments come as a huge cohort of keffiyeh-clad NYU students and professors filled the Manhattan park, echoing pro-Gaza protests unfolding at Ivy League campuses across the country. When asked about the perceived double standard, Galloway acknowledged that it is a complex issue.
“I think one, young people have a healthy gag reflex on what people our age think,” Galloway told MSNBC reporter Willie Geist. “Two, I don’t think Israel has draped itself in glory the last 20 or 30 years, they’ve shifted from being kind of the David to the Goliath.”
Galloway also suggested that students on campus could “incorrectly conflate the civil rights movement” as chaos continues to unfold in Palestine. He added that students have “digressed” as they identify as the “oppressed and ‘oppressors.'” According to Galloway, “the easiest way to identify oppressors is how white and how rich they are.”
Amid the backlash over the university’s handling of the crisis, Galloway slammed activists for being easily “manipulated” by anti-Israel TikTok creators. “And if you look at TikTok, there are 52 videos that are pro-Hamas or pro-Palestine for every one served on Israel,” Galloway added.
At the Washington Square Park protest, an organizer who refused to give her name told DailyMail.com that they had been “inspired” by the pro-Gaza encampment at nearby Columbia University, where cops arrested hundreds of people over the weekend. The organizer, wearing a black face covering and a keffiyeh over her hair, said protesters were calling on NYU to “divest from companies who have interests in the Israeli occupation” and an “academic boycott of Israeli institutions.”
Flyers shared by organizers during the protest stated four demands for the movement, including the “end of all war profiteering and investment in genocide” and providing “full amnesty to all students and faculty penalized for their pro-Palestine activism.”
The protesters chanted slogans such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “NYU go to hell, NYPD go to hell,” while beating drums and waving Palestinian flags. Chants of “there is only one solution, intifada revolution” were also heard at the demonstrations.
As the protest unfolded at NYU, New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams was confronted by a passenger on a plane who accused him of “supporting the genocide in Palestine.” The angry passenger berated Adams, saying he was “always partying” and did not “actually care about the citizens of New York.”
The protests come a day after anti-Israel protesters armed with flares and Palestinian flags marched towards the headquarters of the NYPD, only hours after officers in riot gear stormed an NYU “Gaza Solidarity” encampment protest in Greenwich Village. More than 150 students, staff, and faculty members were reportedly arrested by police on Monday night after ignoring warnings to vacate the campus plaza where the protest was being held.
