Princeton student says anti-Israel protesters called her ‘inbred swine’ and told her to 'go back to Europe’

A lecture at Princeton University by former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was cut short this week after protests erupted both inside and outside the event, with Jewish students reporting targeted slurs and hateful rhetoric from demonstrators.

Danielle Shapiro, a Princeton senior who attended the event, said the protest disrupted the lecture nearly from the start. 

"The administrative failures began really even before this event started at 7:30," Shapiro told "Fox & Friends." 

"Entering this event with a former prime minister of Israel, you did not have to have your identity verified, you do not have your bag checked."

According to Shapiro, around 200 protesters gathered outside the venue, banging drums, shouting through megaphones, and using microphones to drown out Bennett’s speech. She added that the disruption escalated when demonstrators inside the event stood up and began shouting.

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"About 20 minutes in, 25 Princeton students got up and started screaming at Naftali Bennett," Shapiro recalled, saying the protesters shouted expletives at the official. 

The event was ultimately halted when a fire alarm was pulled, prompting an evacuation. Outside, attendees were met by a large crowd of demonstrators. In an op-ed for The Free Press, Shapiro said she was targeted with antisemitic slurs, including being told to "go back to Europe" and being called "inbred swine" by some protesters.

Shapiro and other Jewish students are now calling on Princeton to take action.

"We ask that [President Christopher Eisgruber] formally and publicly apologize to the former prime minister for this disgrace," she said, also calling for disciplinary consequences for those who disrupted the event.

She urged the university to adopt new policies to prevent future antisemitic incidents, including a ban on face coverings at protests, a rule already implemented by Columbia University in response to similar unrest.

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Shapiro also called for the suspension of Princeton’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, claiming the group has violated multiple university policies. 

"That is a nasty group of students on-campus who have violated multiple university rules, and that alone is grounds for a club suspension," she said.

An NYPD officer intervenes as a pro-Israeli counter protestor tries to attack pro-Palestinian demonstrators as they rally outside Columbia University Campus in New York City to protest against former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. New York, U.S., March 04, 2025. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu)

In a statement released Tuesday, Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber said he was "appalled at reports of antisemitic language directed by demonstrators at members of our community." 

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He confirmed the university would investigate the incident and consider disciplinary measures. Eisgruber also noted that at least one of the individuals who disrupted the lecture from inside was not affiliated with the university.

The unrest comes just over a week after the Trump administration suspended millions of dollars in research funding for Princeton and other Ivy League schools over concerns related to antisemitism on campus.

While Shapiro said she believes Princeton has handled recent protests better than some other schools, she is still deeply troubled by what she’s witnessed.

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"If you had told me what Princeton's environment was like two years ago today, I would have been shocked to my core," she said. 

"Saying it's relatively better than Columbia is not something that Princeton should be taking as a point of pride. It really is, it's very concerning still."