Tarek Bazrouk allegedly punched Jonathan Lederer in the face after ranting about Hitler and Nazis. (Credit: DCPI)
A “Jew-hater” who protested against Israel on Columbia University’s campus and contemplated setting a student on fire allegedly had a direct link to Hamas’ deadly al-Qassam Brigades militant group, The Post can reveal.
Tarek Bazrouk — awaiting trial after being indicted on three federal hate crimes against Jewish people — was “a member of a chat group that received regular updates from Abu Obeida,” the official spokesperson for the brigades, according to allegations in federal documents.
The accusation is the first evidence of an agitator receiving information directly from Hamas and taking action during protests on the university campus.
Bazrouk, 20, who was not a Columbia student, also frequently wore the green headband used by Hamas terrorists and boasted to friends about having relatives overseas who were part of the terror group, prosecutors claim in a letter filed with the court.
While on Columbia’s campus during protests in April 2024, Bazrouk allegedly texted a pal saying he lit a flare and considered lighting someone on fire, but that there were “too many” people around for him to take on, otherwise he “would’ve hurted [sic] them.”
Columbia University said it has no record of Bazrouk being on campus and wanted “to be clear that this individual is not affiliated with our University in any way,” adding that the school “strongly condemns antisemitism and violence, and we are horrified by the violence and hate crimes described in the indictment.”
Bazrouk, a US citizen born and raised in New York, was also arrested next to the campus in December 2024 for one of the three attacks against Jewish people of which he stands accused.
It is not clear how Bazrouk got on campus, which is private university property, but Columbia was beset with anti-Israel protesters shielded by masks throughout 2024, resulting in the NYPD being called to flush them out in April that year. (Read more: New York Post, 6/4/2025) (Archive)