BUZZ
A pro-Palestinian group at the City University of New York is co-hosting a fundraiser Friday to help three men accused of crimes connected to anti-Israel activism.
“Support Mohamad Hamad who is in federal prison on pre-trial for allegedly graffitiing a chabad in Pittsburgh,” CUNY for Palestine wrote this week on its Instagram page.
The student organization is one of about two dozen groups involved with the fundraiser “Repression Breeds Resistance,” scheduled for Friday evening, the New York Post reports.
Another beneficiary of the fundraiser, Tarek Bazrouk pleaded guilty “to a hate-crimes conspiracy charge stemming from a series of assaults on Jewish victims in New York City between 2024 and 2025,” according to the report.
According to CUNY for Palestine, Bazrouk was “defending himself against zionists attacking him.” However, the New York Post reports that “Federal prosecutors said he targeted victims because they were Jewish or were perceived to be Jewish,”
The third, Jakhi McCray allegedly set fire to 10 New York City Police Department vehicles in 2025 and vandalized a statue at Columbia University, his motive being anti-Israel activism, according to the report.
The fundraiser drew criticism from a spokesperson for EndJewHatred, a grassroots organization that works to end antisemitism on college campuses and beyond.
“Universities are creating an environment where Jew-hatred and extremism can take root,” Jayne Zirkle told JNS.
Zirkle lamented how campus groups like CUNY for Palestine are “openly encouraging and providing support for terrorism and extremist ideologies, including radical Islamist agendas,” saying it “represents a serious challenge that universities can no longer ignore.”
She urged universities to hold student groups accountable when they advocate for terrorism and violence.
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