A Jewish civil rights group has urged the leadership of the Massachusetts-based liberal arts school Simon Wiesenthal Center to take action after at least one student was stabbed during an incident Thursday night that erupted after a group of approximately 10 to 20 Muslims in the area protested against the building of a new Jewish dorm.
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A group called NoWay was reportedly chanting in the area about 8pm when a fight between students broke out. The stabbing occurred after students were confronted by protesters, according to video footage posted online. There are conflicting reports on whether a student was stabbed but police say it is too early to determine the identity of the victim. The attack was not part of an attack on fellow Jewish students.
A spokesperson for the Wiesenthal Center, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, said the Florida-based Jewish civil rights group called the police, and suggested a senior member of the school’s leadership should personally greet the wounded man, identify him and make clear that there would be consequences if there was another assault on Jewish students.
Cooper said the victim in the stabbing was stabbed near a Jewish dorm at Brandeis University.
“We think the call was received and forwarded to the administrators for their attention, but we do not believe a solid response came from the school to [the] community,” Cooper said.
A spokesperson for Brandeis did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
The Jewish school, which has more than 8,000 students and is one of the nation’s most prominent Jewish liberal arts schools, said in a statement that it was aware of the incident and was cooperating with the Boston police department, the Boston Globe reported.
Jew Fight Video, says a video posted on the website of the Middle East Media Research Institute that has been viewed several thousand times on Facebook. A spokesperson for the Wiesenthal Center said the university wasn’t contacted by the Jewish group.
In a video posted by the Middle East Media Research Institute, a man is shown being tackled and dragged to the ground after a brawl breaks out between several people on the sidewalk in front of the campus. The man, whose leg is hurt, yells: “I don’t like you Jew … you’re not gonna make me take off this pair of shoes.”
NoWay, described on its website as a “social justice community” that has been engaged in racial, political and social justice causes since 2011, said it was working to identify and assist the victim.
“NoWay is working with Brandeis’s campus police to investigate the incident,” NoWay said in a statement. “We commend our students for stepping in and protecting one another. This is not the type of act our movement can accept or condone, and NoWay members will no longer be silent bystanders in events like this. We are committed to protecting our members’ physical and emotional health and safety.”
