FOOTAGE: Lush workers yell at, twerk on Jewish MACA protesters on Sunday
More than 100 people marched through NYC at the Mothers Against Campus Antisemitism (MACA) rally on Sunday
More than 150 people marched through Lower Manhattan on Sunday, demanding that colleges take action on anti-Jew hatred and to demand accountability for previous incidents of campus hate crimes.
The group behind the protest— Mothers Against Campus Antisemitism, or MACA for short — met at 11am by the Washington Square Arch. Armed with megaphones, tambourines and whistles, they chanted “Educate, Don’t Indoctrinate!” as they walked to NYU, FIT, Baruch College, and others.
MACA is one of the foremost groups against campus antisemitism in the United States. Started as a Facebook group after the October 7 attack on Israel, the group now boasts 61,000 members and dozens of posts a day.
While the rally went off without a hitch, when walking past the Lush Cosmetics store on 28 West 14th Street in Manhattan, rally-goers were screamed at, threatened and one MACA member says a girl started twerking on her. That member, who wishes to remain confidential, told me that she was shaken.
“One vocal pro-Palestine employee repeated ‘kiss my ass’ several times, as she stuck her backside out and pointed to her buttocks after calling all of us losers. Then, she approached me and dared me to lay hands [as if to fight]. She then proceeded to give me the finger” the mother told me by phone Sunday.
The incident was recorded by Elizabeth Rand, founder of MACA. In the footage, you can hear the Lush workers chant “racist”, and one employee yelled “you’re a bitch, you’re a fucking bitch, put your hands on me… kiss my ass… kiss my ass!” before she tried to twerk.
Known for their colorful bath bombs, Lush Cosmetics did not respond to a media inquiry after being sent footage of the attack. When reached by phone, the 28 West 14th Street storefront hung up the phone. Shay Ben-Yosef, a NYC resident born in Israel also witnessed the incident.
“What was shocking was that we were marching on the sidewalk, most of us, mothers and children, and these workers from Lush stormed out of the building and began screaming at us and taunting us. We were peaceful, they got into our faces,” Ben-Yosef told me by phone this Monday.
“What’s crazy is that afterwards one of the Lush workers ran to the NYPD and claimed we were harassing them. Clearly we were not, as the NYPD was walking alongside us and had no issue with our protest,” he said.
“That was basically it, until a lady in a keffiyeh got in my face and pushed my megaphone into my face” adding that he had a little bit of a busted lip afterwards, but was uninjured.
Next January or Feburary, MACA Media Relations Officer Michelle Corbett tells me that after the New Year, MACA plans to have another multi-school rally in upper Manhattan.
As I reported Sunday, MACA member Felice Schacter said that MACA skipped Columbia University on this month’s march because some Jewish groups on campus are worried about inflaming potential Hamas supporters to come out of the woodwork.
Her perspective is that “for some reason, the abused are protecting their abusers. It seems as though they are scared and trying to keep their heads down and play nice” she told me.
Columbia students were so combative last semester that the NYPD arrested 109 individuals during an encampment protest. Students barricaded one of the buildings. Dozens of police cars engulfed the campus. Protestors rattled the gates of the hallowed school. A bullet rang out, but everyone was uninjured. The encampment raid was broadcast on national television and it underscores the tenacity of Columbia’s pro-Palestine students.
Columbia Professor Shai Davidai spoke at the MACA protest, as well as Mazi Pilip, an Ethiopian-Jew who served in the IDF as a gunsmith and who now works as an elected official in the Nassau County Legislature.
The group’s leader Elizabeth Rand thanked her team in a post made Sunday night.
“A huge thank you to all the fantastic volunteers who helped make today a success.
“Planning Committee member Felice Schachter got us police escorts for the entire duration of the rally, Michelle Corbett who worked tirelessly to get us media coverage, and Chanan Vogel made up the chants and brought his team from Teaneck,” she wrote.
”This rally would not have been the same without all of you,” Rand wrote.
MACA Member Katherine Adelson told me that she was proud to see everyone at the rally.
"This was a fantastic rally. Not only did we show our support for Jewish students but to call upon colleges to be accountable" she said.
"I thought maybe we'd get 50 people, but over 150 people turned out. It's so good to see that our fellow MACA network was able to reach so many people.”
If you have additional info about this event, please consider emailing me at tonimaeairaksinen@gmail.com.
This article was written by Toni Airaksinen, a journalist living in Delray Beach, Florida. If you’d like to stay on top of college antisemitism news, please follow her on Substack, Twitter or Instagram. If you enjoyed this, consider Buying Her a Coffee with a small donation.
Informative article. Thank you.