Sahar Tartak, the editor-in-chief of the Yale Free Press, found herself encircled by demonstrators during an anti-Israeli protest on campus. She suffered an injury to her eye when a Palestinian flag was used as a weapon. Despite her efforts to report the incident to campus police, they informed her that there was no action they could take, leaving her with no choice but to seek medical help at a hospital.
Sahar, a Jewish student journalist at Yale University, encountered an assault while covering an anti-Israeli protest on campus Saturday night.
“She recounted the incident to the New York Post. She described being surrounded by a crowd of people who taunted her and made offensive gestures. In a particularly violent act, someone thrust a Palestinian flag into her face, injuring her eye.”
Jewish Yale University student Sahar Tartak was stabbed in the eye at a violent anti-Israel campus protest.
She shared her story with Fox News today.
Tartak said that some of the protesters tore down an American flag from a flagpole.
. pic.twitter.com/k4XySWckMw— Paul Villarreal (AKA Vince Manfeld) (@AureliusStoic1) April 22, 2024
“When I attempted to raise my voice and pursue the assailant, the protesters formed a barrier, preventing me from doing so.”
The demonstration, during which hundreds of students camped at the campus in solidarity with Palestinians, has faced censure due to its objectionable conduct, including acts of intimidation, harassment, and other harmful behaviors.
After this Yale student jabbed my eye with his flag, I tried to yell and run after him. But the people in this video made a human blockade to stop me from confronting my assaulter. They stood in front of me in a line throughout the night pic.twitter.com/R4LfHqN6TN
— Sahar Tartak🇮🇱🇺🇸 (@sahar_tartak) April 21, 2024
Stop Antisemitism, a nonprofit organization monitoring anti-Semitic incidents, has released a photograph of the protester who physically assaulted Tartak by jabbing him in the eye. The group is seeking assistance from the public to identify the individual involved.
Yale University’s police department is actively investigating the assault, and the institution has made it clear that violence is not acceptable on its campus.
Yale has faced criticism from students like Noah Rubin at the University of Pennsylvania for what they perceive as a lack of enforcement of protest-related policies.
A Chassidic Jewish student was blockaded by protest organizers at a violent Yale rally last night. They followed his every move, and did the same to me. Obviously, this happened to no one else pic.twitter.com/YIrbiv5sJE
— Sahar Tartak🇮🇱🇺🇸 (@sahar_tartak) April 21, 2024
According to the university’s guidelines, protesters are prohibited from obstructing building entrances and may be deemed trespassers if they refuse to comply with instructions to vacate the area.
Alongside the recent incidents of violence, students at Yale University have initiated a hunger strike in an effort to compel the institution to divest from companies associated with Israel’s weapons manufacturing.
The hunger strike has persisted for over six days and has received backing from diverse individuals, including drag performer Tifa Wine, who participated in the protest on Friday to voice criticism against the university’s perceived support of Israel.
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