EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: University of Hawai'i activist steals Israeli flags planted on campus
Campus Reform obtained video footage of a student who ripped out Israeli flags from the ground that were planted the day before an anti-Israel protest.
One UHM senior told Campus Reform he thought it ‘insane’ that anti-Israel activists ‘don't want to acknowledge what is happening to all the innocent Israeli families.’
An anti-Israel student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa (UHM) was recorded removing Israeli flags that were planted on the UHM campus shortly before an anti-Israel protest, as seen in footage obtained by Campus Reform.
Community members placed Israeli flags on campus the evening before a “Day of Action Rally and Teach-in for Palestine” protest at UHM on May 3.
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The Students and Faculty for Justice in Palestine group advertised the event beforehand, writing: “We will be rolling out demands to the UH admin, holding teach-ins, and there will be food, poetry and art activities and a study zone.”
As seen in the video, an anti-Israel student walked through campus, uprooting several Israel flags. When asked for his name, he responded: “You don’t need to know.”
Rocklin Youngstrom, a Leadership Institute Field Representative in Hawaii and the individual who filmed the flags being removed, told Campus Reform that “[a]ll of our flags got taken down” before the anti-Israel “Day of Action” event.
“Anti-semitism, Islamophobia or discrimination and harassment of any kind are not tolerated at the University of Hawaii,” a university spokesperson told Campus Reform.
“UH students, employees and guests who encounter such behavior should report it immediately to the appropriate authorities. If they wish to remain anonymous, they submit a report to the UH Whistleblower hotline,” the spokesperson added.
Riley Tobin, a senior at UHM, told Campus Reform: “I think it’s crazy that even if people disagree with you that you still go out and do stuff like this. The fact that while they were putting flags out at 10 p.m. the night before the Palestine rally, you get people like this [who] don’t want to acknowledge what is happening to all the innocent Israeli families. It is too insane. We should be able to recognize both sides of this war and respect each other for all the lives lost.”
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During the “Day of Action” event, one pro-Israel counter-protester claimed that she was threatened by an anti-Israel activist who told her: “The only thing keeping you safe right now is the community guidelines.”
Campus Reform has reached out to the Students and Faculty for Justice in Palestine for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
