Temple U. Jewish student punched at pro-Palestinian group’s booth

Ben Sales

(JTA) — A Jewish student at Temple University was punched in the face by someone manning an informational booth for Students for Justice in Palestine.

The pro-Palestinian group condemned Wednesday’s assault of Daniel Vessal and said the assailant was neither a student nor a member of the group, according to the Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia.

Vessal approached the booth during a campus fair and allegedly was punched following a verbal exchange that included anti-Semitic slurs, the weekly reported. Vessal was taken to the hospital and subsequently released.

He is a member of the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi and a fellow with CAMERA, a right-wing pro-Israel media watchdog.

The Temple Hillel expressed “outrage” over the incident. Its director, Phil Nordlinger, told the Exponent that police did not arrest the assailant.

Temple’s Students for Justice in Palestine condemned the incident, “just as we condemn the violence that is committed against Palestinians by the state of Israel on a daily basis.”