Amid a wave of pro-Palestinian protests sweeping across U.S. campuses, which has also spread to Europe and included numerous expressions of antisemitism and support for Hamas, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed reposted a video clip from a 2017 interview in which he warned against the West’s failure to address and enforce measures against extremists who have migrated from the Middle East.
In that interview, bin Zayed emphasized that inaction on the matter would lead to the flourishing of extremist and even terrorist elements in Europe and the West in general. On Sunday night, bin Zayed reposted the clip with the curt caption: "I told you so."
Bin Zayed made these remarks during a discussion at the Tweeps forum in 2017, cautioning that certain countries in Europe could become "hotbeds of terrorism" if they fail to deal with the extremist elements that have migrated there.
He noted at the time that "Saudi Arabia is more determined to fight terrorism than the Europeans. We hear voices in Britain, Germany Spain, and Italy calling to kill the residents and steal their wealth."
Bin Zayed, who spoke in his native Arabic throughout the panel, temporarily switched to English to issue a stern warning to attendants at the conference.
“And let me say this in English so you can understand what I'm saying,” bin Zayed told the host, to which she responded, “I have translation.”
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Violent clashes erupted between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators at UCLA in Los Angeles
(Photo: Etienne LAURENT / AFP)
“No, I know you have translation, but I just want to make sure you get it right,” he replied. “There will come a day that we will see far more radical extremists and terrorists coming out of Europe because of the lack of decision-making, trying to be politically correct or assuming that they know the Middle East and they know Islam and they know the others far better than we do. And I'm sorry, but that's pure ignorance.”
The clip has resurfaced repeatedly on social media at specific times, notably after the October 7 massacre, and has garnered significant views and shares in recent days amid a wave of protests on U.S. campuses. These demonstrations have featured prominent displays of hatred against Israel—and even against the U.S. itself.
Bin Zayed’s brief response came hours after billionaire Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), shared the video, commenting that bin Zayed "knows what he’s talking about." Musk’s post received more than 54 million views, hundreds of thousands of likes and tens of thousands of shares, further amplifying bin Zayed’s comments.
Clashes on LA campus, Khamenei voices support
The wave of pro-Palestinian protests recently erupted across U.S. campuses, including those of the prestigious Ivy League, and have spread to academic institutions in Europe, marked by numerous antisemitic statements and clear support for terrorism.
The recent wave of protests has drawn significant attention, taking place at the United States’ most esteemed universities and due to what is perceived as a lack of enforcement and response to both verbal and, at times, physical violence against Jewish and Israeli students. This is despite heightened sensitivity in the U.S. toward negative expressions toward other groups, including African Americans and the LGBTQ+ community.
Demonstrators at Stanford University were seen this week wearing green Hamas headbands, while students at Princeton University were photographed waving Hezbollah flags. At Harvard, protesters removed the U.S. flag from one of the buildings and replaced it with a Palestinian flag. In a notable incident at Boston University, one demonstrator led chants, asking, "What is the greatest threat to the world today? The U.S. and Israel."
The sights from U.S. campuses reached Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, whose official X account posted in English Sunday night, “See what is happening in the world. In Western countries, in England and France, and in states across the US itself, people are coming out in huge numbers to chant slogans against Israel and America. US & Israel's reputation has been ruined. They truly have no solution.” Khamenei attached to the post of video compilation from various protests.
Violent clashes erupted between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators at UCLA in Los Angeles
Meanwhile, violent clashes erupted between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators at UCLA in Los Angeles on Sunday. Thousands participated in the counterprotests, which were sanctioned by the university administration. The institution had hired a private security firm intended to separate the demonstrators, but a breached barrier led to escalated confrontations and physical altercations. It remains unclear who breached the barrier.
During the clashes, a Jewish student was injured and required on-site medical treatment but was not hospitalized. Reports indicate she was struck in the head by a pro-Palestinian protester. Despite the violent clashes, there were no arrests. "UCLA has a long history as a place of peaceful protest, and we are heartbroken over the violence that erupted," the university stated.
UCLA's campus has become one of the focal points in the current wave of pro-Palestinian protests. Over the weekend, Los Angeles police arrested 93 demonstrators who refused to evacuate a tent encampment on campus. The students are demanding that the university divest from Israel or companies that support its military actions in Gaza. The university maintains that it holds no such investments.