A Jewish student journalist at Yale University in the United States, who was covering an anti-Israeli protest, was allegedly stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag on Saturday (April 20, 2024).
Sahar Tartak, editor-in-chief of the Yale Free Press, was covering the protest at the university when the incident reportedly happened.
During the protest, a large number of pro-Palestine demonstrators were present on the campus.
Tartak told The New York Post she and a friend were singled out for wearing Hasidic Jewish attire as the crowd formed a blockade around them to interfere with their filming.
“There’s hundreds of people taunting me and waving the middle finger at me, and then this person waves a Palestinian flag in my face and jabs it in my eye,” she told the newspaper.
“When I tried to yell and go after him, the protesters got in a line and stopped me,” she added.
Tartak, who was shopping for an eyepatch when speaking with The New York Post, said she tried to report the assault to campus police but they told her there was nothing they could do.
She criticised the university for not cracking down on Saturday’s protest.
Stop Antisemitism, a nonprofit watchdog group, has shared an image Tartak took of the demonstrator who jabbed her in the eye, asking the public to help identify him, the newspaper reported.
Yale officials said the university’s police have started probing the incident.
University president Peter Salovey told The New York Post: “I am aware of reports of egregious behavior, such as intimidation and harassment, pushing those in crowds, removal of the plaza flag, and other harmful acts.”
