The White House condemned “in the strongest terms” ongoing anti-Israel protests at colleges across the U.S., including at Columbia University in New York City, on Sunday, saying they have no place anywhere in the U.S.

White House statement on anti-Israel protests at Columbia University:

“While every American has the right to peaceful protect, 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. And echoing the rhetoric of terrorist organizations, especially in the wake of the worst massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, is despicable. We condemn these statements in the strongest terms.”

-Andrew Bates, White House Deputy Press Secretary

Protests have called for an intifada and the death of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One Jewish Columbia University student was even told to “kill yourself” and repeatedly kicked in the stomach during the protests.

Tensions continued to build, and on Thursday, the New York City Police Department arrested 108 people who refused to leave the encampment, each of whom was issued a summons for trespassing.

Earlier Sunday, YWN reported that Rabbi Eli Buechler, the director of the OU-JLIC at Columbia/Barnard, urged students to leave campus and go home due to growing threats of anti-Jewish violence by pro-Hamas provocateurs on the university’s campus.

The move comes after Jewish students and the Chabad rabbi of Columbia University were forced to leave the campus for their safety during a pro-Hamas demonstration on Motzei Shabbos.