‘Squad’ Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., were seen on Friday mingling with anti-Israel agitators at Columbia University. (Getty Images)
Omar was joined in her visit to the school by her daughter, Isra Hirsi, who was suspended last week from Barnard College for her involvement in anti-Israel demonstrations on Columbia's campus.
The appearances by the three progressive "Squad" Democrats come as several colleges and universities around the United States brace for what is yet to come as more and more anti-Israel protests sweep the nation.
Ocasio-Cortez has been an ardent defender of those protesting Israel on college campuses in different corners of the United States. In a Tuesday post on X, Ocasio-Cotez wrote, "Calling in police enforcement on nonviolent demonstrations of young students on campus is an escalatory, reckless, and dangerous act. It represents a heinous failure of leadership that puts people’s lives at risk. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms."
Dozens of anti-Israel activists began demonstrating at Columbia University last week. (Peter Gerber)
Dozens of anti-Israel activists began demonstrating at Columbia University last week. Fiery protests have continued there and at other schools across the country, with several issuing calls for an intifada and the death of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Omar, whose views on Israel have been repeatedly criticized by her Republican colleagues in Congress, suggested Wednesday that the Gaza cease-fire encampments at Columbia University are being "co-opted and made to look bad" by public officials and members of the media.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and her daughter, Isra Hirsi, were spotted in New York City on Thursday during their appearance at an anti-Israel encampment that was set up on Columbia University's campus. (Getty Images, Fox News)
"Throughout history, protests were co-opted and made to look bad so police and public leaders would shut them down. That’s what we are seeing now at Columbia University," Omar wrote on X.
Social media videos from the anti-Israel demonstration that has been staged for days on Columbia’s campus show activists cheering on the deaths of Israeli soldiers and showing support for Hamas. Jewish students have reported feeling unsafe on campus and shared stories of being verbally and physically assaulted.
"They were pushing and shoving me. . . . They threw rocks at my face. At that moment, my life was totally threatened. And there was no safety authority on campus," one student told NY1over the weekend.
Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind, Taylor Penley and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Kyle Morris covers politics for Fox News. Story tips can be sent via email and on X: @RealKyleMorris.
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