Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) compared pro-Palestine protests spreading across American universities to the deadly 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The remark, which specifically compared an ongoing protest at Columbia University with “Charlottesville for… Jewish students,” came as demonstrators entered their fifth day of occupying what’s been dubbed the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on campus.
Student protesters on Columbia’s campus are calling for the university to divest all finances, including any invested through their endowment, from “corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine,” wrote the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition (CUAD).
Columbia came under scrutiny from Congress last week when its president, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, testified in front of a House committee about its response to antisemitism. Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) asked Shafik if she wanted Columbia University to “be cursed by God” for allegedly not supporting Israel.
Fetterman’s comments, which evoke the neo-Nazi led Unite the Right rally where white supremacists marched with Tiki Torches to protest against a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee being removed, are provoking backlash online.
Fetterman’s comments were in response to a statement from the White House on Sunday that said “calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly Antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous.”
“They have absolutely no place on any college campus, or anywhere in the United States of America,” the statement said.
“I fully agree with the White House—these ‘protests’ are antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous,” Fetterman posted on X. “Add some tiki torches and it’s Charlottesville for these Jewish students. To @Columbia President Minouche Shafik: do your job or resign so Columbia can find someone who will.”
Fetterman’s post echoed rhetoric by other Israel supporters online, who have characterized the campus protests as being motivated by antisemitism. Users pointed to videos of protesters who rallied in solidarity with the encampment chanting in favor of Hamas and armed resistance to the Israeli armed forces.
“A Jewish student was stabbed in the fucking eye by your Columbia Islamic Jihad supporters,” posted @TonyMoonbeam. “Just grab your tiki torches and link arms with your fellow travelers[.]”
“Folks, antisemitism is wrong & indefensible whether its men with tiki torches in Charlottesville or some (not all) of the protesters at Columbia & Yale,” wrote @david_darmofal. “If you can only call out one side, you’re a partisan who doesn’t really care about antisemitism.”
“There is a literal. jihad. terrorist. Mob at @Columbia right now. The only thing missing is the tiki torches,” posted @TWreninator on Thursday night, tagging the FBI and NYPD Special Ops.
But other posters pushed back on the narrative that pro-Palestine protesters were out of control and being given free rein. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump echoed such sentiments on Monday in a series of posts to Truth Social.
Posts from The Independent showed Jewish students on Friday celebrating Shabbat at the Solidarity Encampment. The Columbia Spectator also published an open letter Monday morning from untenured faculty standing in support with students who’d been arrested, suspended without due process, and removed from campus after Shafik authorized police to sweep the encampment last week.
Other posters speculated that Fetterman, who campaigned as a progressive darling but quickly earned condemnation from left-wingers for maintaining a steadfastly pro-Israel line after October 7th, didn’t actually believe what he was saying.
“John Fetterman Mossad blackmail tape must be the stuff of nightmares,” posted @SeanMcCarthyCom above a GIF of Woody Harrelson’s character from True Detective, suggesting that Fetterman’s pro-Israel line was due to something Israel has on him.
“I’m scared to know what it is,” replied @kaylapop_.
But other posters said it had nothing to do with that.
“Or….he could just be a total asshole,” posted @EarthAcolytes.
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