NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Yazmeen Deyhimi, a junior at New York University, has admitted to tearing down posters of Israeli hostages, but blamed her behavior on misplaced anger.
Deyhimi was identified by her NYU peers on Monday, October 16, shortly after a video went viral showing her and two other students stripping clean a wall at Tisch Hall, where students had plastered the faces of some of the hundreds of hostages taken by Hamas during the ongoing Middle East conflict.
In the now-viral video, the two women can be seen grinning while holding the torn pictures of young children taken hostages by Hamas militants, who launched a deadly attack on Israel on October 7.
The pair were filmed by Students Supporting Israel, which is calling for the three “cowards” to be punished by NYU.
“Our fear as Jewish students is valid, and the university needs to create an environment where all students feel safe and respected. NYU has a responsibility to take action against any form of discrimination, including antisemitism, in line with its zero-tolerance policy,” urged a petition since its launch.
One of Deyhimi's accomplices has been identified as a freshman at the university, who serves as a Muslim Youth Leadership Council Member at 'Advocates for Youth'. The third person has not yet been identified.
Deyhimi is a self-acclaimed 'activist', who once worked for the Anti-Defamation League. According to her LinkedIn, she worked as a CSC Education Intern for the ADL during the summer at the age of 15.
“After review, we can confirm that one of the participants was part of an ADL high-school level summer internship in 2019,” a spokesperson for the organization told NY Post.
Deyhimi, who is an opponent of Muslim intolerance, was also featured in a December 2022 New York Times piece on the style choices of NYU students clubbing inside the basement of a shuttered barbershop.
Yazmeen Deyhimi apologizes for her actions
Following the social media outcry, Deyhimi offered an apology for her behavior, saying she was having a rough time finding her place as a "biracial brown woman" during these "highly volatile" times.
“I have found it increasingly difficult to know my place as a biracial brown woman, especially during these highly volatile times,” she wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post.
“I have felt more and more frustrated about the time we currently find ourselves in, and that misplaced anger into actions that are not an accurate representation of who I am as a person,” Deyhimi continued.
The NYU junior has claimed to be "extremely passionate about fighting racial profiling."
“In this age of social media and digital footprint, these moments of anger are selfish and self-absorbed, and not reflective of who I am as a person or who my family had raised me to be,” she stated.
It is not clear whether Deyhimi or her accomplices were slapped with any disciplinary action since she admitted to ripping down the posters.
Internet reacts to Yazmeen Deyhimi’s ‘disgusting’ behavior
The viral video showing Deyhimi stripping the posters has garnered immense social media attention, with users slamming her for being unsympathetic to Israelis amid the ongoing conflict
“Shows how much they actually care about humanity..... Their support is with terrorists who go around festivals and homes killing innocents and taking hostages,” one user wrote.
“I wonder how’d they feel if their family members were missing, and other people were tearing those missing people photos down. Disgusting behaviour,” the second user stated.
“Internet is forever. Their faces will be remembered when job interviews pop up,” the third user said while the fourth one asserted “Name them, expel them, make them unemployable for life.”
“Outrageous. What are their names? Their visas should be revoked, if applicable,” another user said.
“Reprehensible. Regardless of your stance, the fact remains that these people are being held captive. Trying to silence that truth is unacceptable,” one more wrote.
